Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala
31 May 2025•Update: 01 June 2025
ANKARA/ISTANBUL
An Arab ministerial delegation on Gaza has condemned Israel’s refusal to allow their visit to Ramallah as a “flagrant violation” of its responsibilities as an occupying power under international law.
In an official statement issued on Saturday, the delegation said Israel’s decision to prevent their visit to Ramallah reflects “the extent of the Israeli government’s arrogance, its disregard for international law, and its continued implementation of illegal measures and policies that besiege the Palestinian people.”
On Friday, Israeli officials confirmed that Tel Aviv prevented a scheduled visit by a delegation of Arab foreign ministers to Ramallah, where they intended to discuss support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
The delegation includes the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The visit, which had been postponed from an earlier date, was set to deliver a message of political support to the Palestinian leadership.
The delegation, part of a ministerial committee formed at the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, is also preparing for an international peace conference scheduled to take place in mid-June in New York, co-led by Saudi Arabia and France. The conference is expected to focus on reviving efforts toward a two-state solution.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry emphasized that the Israeli government’s ban “constitutes a blatant violation of its obligations under international law as an occupying power, a breach of signed agreements, and a continuation of its ongoing violations against the #Palestinian people.”
Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, said Israel's decision to prevent Arab ministers from visiting "is not surprising coming from a fascist state."
He said in an interview with Anadolu that the gag order "comes as part of ongoing pressure on the Palestinian Authority and efforts to undermine it, which are accompanied by financial blockade, fragmentation of the West Bank, and intensification of settlement outposts as part of a de facto annexation plan."
Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 972 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
