RIYADH, September 3, 2025 (WAFA) – The Gulf Cooperation Council on Wednesday condemned Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to annex the vast majority of the occupied Palestinian territory as “dangerous and suspicious”.
Jasem Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC, said in a press statement that he “condemns in the strongest terms the dangerous and suspicious calls made by a minister in the government of the Israeli occupation forces, which aim to deepen settlement and annex the occupied West Bank.”
He stated that “these inflammatory calls confirm the occupation's continuous and systematic approach of destabilising security and stability in the region, reflecting its insistence on undermining peace opportunities and its blatant defiance of international conventions, as well as its continued violation of all laws and norms.”
He called on the international community to take immediate and deterrent measures to “stop these inflammatory calls and dangerous practices by the Israeli occupation forces.”
He affirmed the “GCC's support for the brotherly Palestinian people in confronting these aggressive statements and practices, and in backing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, first and foremost the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Earlier today, Smotrich unveiled a controversial plan to annex the vast majority of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Smotrich proposed absorbing 82 percent of the West Bank into Israel, a move that would effectively eliminate the prospect of a future Palestinian state.
Under the proposal, only six isolated enclaves - where major Palestinian cities such as Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho and Hebron are located - would remain outside of Israeli control. All other areas, including dozens of towns and villages, would be formally annexed.
Smotrich described the principle behind the plan as taking control of “maximum land with minimum [Palestinian] population”.
Israel uses the Jewish nationalist name “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the occupied West Bank to reinforce its bogus claims to the territory and to give them a veneer of historical and religious legitimacy.
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