Iran slams Israel’s decision to confiscate 800 hectares of Palestinian land in West Bank

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani called the land grab an open and illegal theft and aggression against the Muslims and natural rights of the Palestinian people as well as an insurgency against peace, security and international law.

He described the usurpation of another part of the Palestinian territories as a complement to the barbaric and criminal actions of the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip and the continuation of the evil policy of cleansing the Palestinian people from the sea to the river and spreading this cancerous tumor throughout the historical land of Palestine.

The diplomat noted that the recent illegal and dangerous decision, which is the largest confiscation of Palestinian territories since 1993, is a continuation of the Zionist regime’s war crimes against the Palestinians and a clear example of Israel’s gross violation of international law and human rights.

Kanaani added that the Islamic Republic of Iran, while reminding the international community and, above all, the United Nations of their serious responsibility regarding the new wave of occupation and the blatant land grabs by the Zionist regime, calls on them to give a decisive, effective and deterrent response to this violation.

He said Iran once again stresses the necessity of rejecting the occupation and emphasizes the need for respect for the right of the Palestinian people to determine their destiny and the necessity of the formation of an independent Palestinian state from the sea to the river with the capital thereof being al-Quds.

Kanaani underlined that this is the only lasting and fair solution that will lead to the end of the aggressive and expansionist policies of the Zionists in the region.

On March 22, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared 800 hectares (1,977 acres) in the occupied West Bank as “state land”, in a move that will facilitate the use of the ground for settlement building.

Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said the announced seizure is the single largest since the 1993 Oslo Accords, and “2024 marks a peak in the extent of declarations of state land”.