RIYADH — Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the approval by the Israeli occupation authorities to build settlements around the occupied city of Jerusalem. In a statement, the Kingdom denounced the Israeli foreign minister's statements against the establishment of a Palestinian state. Saudi Arabia regarded these actions as violations of international law, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their sovereign state, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2234 (2016). This resolution demands that Israel cease settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, affirms the illegality of Israel's settlement construction in the territory occupied since 1967, and refers to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming the invalidity of annexing the occupied Palestinian territories and the need to end the Israeli occupation. Saudi Arabia reaffirmed that these decisions and statements are a continuation of the illegal expansionist policies of the Israeli government, obstructing the peace option and posing a serious threat to the possibility of a two-state solution. "Israel's behavior requires the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to provide protection for the Palestinian people, meet their legitimate rights—including recognition of the Palestinian state—compel Israel to cease its aggression against Gaza, halt its illegal violations in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and stop crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly those amounting to genocide, while holding perpetrators accountable," the statement said. Saudi Arabia reiterated its unequivocal rejection of Israeli policies based on settlement, forced displacement, and the deprivation of the Palestinian people of exercising their legitimate rights. It called on the international community—especially the permanent members of the UN Security Council—to take immediate measures to compel the Israeli occupation authorities to halt their crimes against the Palestinian people and the occupied Palestinian territories, and to comply with UN resolutions and international law.
