Pakistan, along with 13 countries, issued a joint condemnation of the US ambassador’s remarks endorsing expansive Israeli territorial claims.
Other key regional bodies include the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, League of Arab States, and Gulf Cooperation Council,
The joint statement reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Palestinian or other Arab lands and reiterated support for a two-state solution based on the June 4, 1967 borders.
Pakistan on Sunday joined 13 other nations in condemning remarks by the US ambassador to Israel, who endorsed a Biblical interpretation of Israel’s right to control mainland Arab territories.
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee made the comments during a Friday interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Carlson referenced a biblical verse describing Israel’s territory as stretching from the Euphrates River in Iraq to the Nile in Egypt.
Responding to the suggestion, Huckabee, a staunch pro-Israel conservative, said, “It would be fine if they (Israel) took it all.”
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, along with the secretariats of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, “express their strong condemnation and profound concern” regarding Huckabee’s statement.
The foreign ministers “affirm their countries’ categorical rejection of such dangerous and inflammatory remarks which constitute a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and pose a grave threat to the security and stability of the region”, the statement said.
The joint declaration added that the remarks contradict the vision presented by US President Donald Trump, as well as the comprehensive plan aimed at ending the Gaza conflict. According to the statement, those efforts are based on containing escalation and establishing a political pathway toward a comprehensive settlement that ensures the Palestinian people have their own independent state.
The ministers said the plan is rooted in promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence, and that statements seeking to legitimize control over others’ lands undermine these objectives, fuel tensions, and amount to incitement rather than a step toward peace.
They reaffirmed that “Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands”.
The ministers reiterated their firm rejection of any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip, voiced strong opposition to the expansion of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and expressed categorical rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states.
They warned that the continuation of “Israel’s expansionist policies and unlawful measures will only inflame violence and conflict in the region".
The ministers also underscored their countries’ steadfast commitment to the “inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination” and to the “establishment of their independent state along the lines of June 4, 1967, and the end of the occupation of all Arab lands”.
