Arab League Calls for Urgent Arab and International Action to Halt Settlements and Protect Jerusalem

Cairo, October 13 (KUNA) – The Arab League called on Tuesday for practical, coordinated Arab and international action to halt the escalating attacks by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, confront settlement and displacement policies, and safeguard the legal status of Jerusalem.

In a statement delivered during the extraordinary session of the League’s Council at the level of permanent representatives, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Palestine and Occupied Arab Lands Sector, Ambassador Faed Mustafa, stated that the occupation forces’ attacks on Palestinians are part of a systematic policy aimed at displacing Palestinians, expanding settlements, altering the demographic and geographical reality of the occupied territories, and undermining the two-state solution.

He added that the continued confiscation of land, expansion of settlements, and forcing Palestinians to leave their homes and lands contradict peace efforts, emphasizing that peace cannot be achieved by imposing facts on the ground or denying the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Regarding the Gaza Strip, Mustafa called for an end to the humanitarian suffering, guaranteed unhindered access for humanitarian and relief aid, protection for civilians, and rejection of any attempts to displace the Strip’s residents or carve out any part of its land. He clarified that Gaza is an inseparable part of the occupied Palestinian land, and its future is tied to the unity of Palestinian land and people, with the goal of ending the occupation and establishing an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Mustafa warned against the dangers of measures aimed at changing the status of Jerusalem or undermining its international legal standing, including some countries opening embassies there. He urged respect for international law and resolutions of the UN Security Council, and called for refraining from steps that contradict these resolutions or diminish the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.

He considered Jerusalem to be the core of the Palestinian issue in its national, political, humanitarian, and religious dimensions, noting that undermining its legal, political, and religious status threatens prospects for a political settlement and complicates the regional and international landscape.

Mustafa called for unifying the Arab position and defining clear steps for action at the regional and international levels by intensifying communications with the United Nations and relevant international bodies, urging the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities, holding the occupation accountable for its violations, and providing no political or legal cover for measures aimed at changing the reality in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He reaffirmed the League’s commitment to continuing work with Palestine and member states to mobilize Arab and international efforts to confront attacks, provide international protection for the Palestinian people, defend their legitimate rights, end the occupation, and enable them to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their independent, sovereign state.

For his part, Palestine’s Permanent Representative to the League, Ambassador Mohannad Al-Aklouk, called for international protection for the Palestinian people in accordance with international law, UN resolutions, advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice, and the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and under Occupation.

He pointed to the escalation of attacks by occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, targeting Palestinians and their property to force them to leave their homes and lands. He noted that the Palestinian Resistance to the Wall and Settlements Authority has documented more than 5,500 attacks since the beginning of 2026, resulting in the martyrdom of 30 Palestinians.

Al-Alkouk warned of escalating attacks on the Palestinian olive harvest season, including the burning, breaking, and bulldozing of olive trees, preventing farmers from harvesting their crops, assaulting them, and stealing their produce. The extraordinary session is convened at the request of the State of Palestine and under the presidency of Tunisia to examine mechanisms for providing international protection to the Palestinian people and ensuring respect for international law and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council concerning the legal status of the city of Jerusalem, as well as the rising attacks by occupation forces and armed settlers against Palestinians and their property. (End) M.M. / F.S.