CAIRO, August 31, 2026 (WAFA) — Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy expressed concern over statements and plans announced by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the expansion of new Jewish communities in the Negev and Galilee and increasing the number of Jewish residents in the two areas, along with policies affecting Palestinian towns within the 1948 territories.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Secretary-General said that the plans' discriminatory measures based on identity and national affiliation reinforce a policy of discrimination and exclusion at the expense of the principles of equality and the rights of Palestinian citizens in the 1948 territories. He warned of the serious social and political consequences of institutionalizing such approaches and turning them into public policy.

He said these developments come within a broader context of Israeli policies aimed at creating new realities on the ground, foremost among them settlement expansion and undermining the foundations of a Palestinian state, which he said contradicts international law and threatens prospects for reaching a just and lasting political settlement.

Fahmy stressed the need for the international community to fulfill its responsibilities in confronting these policies and preserving the foundations for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, describing the two-state solution as the path toward achieving security, stability, and lasting peace in the region.

K.T