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Arab World

Israel’s Parliament Backs Symbolic Motion to Annex the West Bank

A general view of a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
A general view of a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
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Israel’s Parliament Backs Symbolic Motion to Annex the West Bank

A general view of a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
A general view of a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)

Israeli lawmakers voted 71-13 in favor of the measure, which calls for “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley,” the biblical terms for the area.

Wednesday’s motion, advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, is declarative and has no direct legal implications, although it could place the issue of annexation on the agenda of future debates in the parliament.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want all three for a future state. Some 3 million Palestinians and over 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank.

Annexation of the West Bank could make it impossible to create a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, which is seen internationally as the only realistic way to resolve the conflict.

Last year, the Israeli parliament approved a similar symbolic motion declaring opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

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Arab World

Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development

Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development
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Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development

Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development

Speaker of the Arab Parliament Mohammed Al-Yamahi affirmed that protecting and promoting human rights constitutes a fundamental pillar for achieving sustainable development in its comprehensive sense, and represents an essential requirement for the progress, stability, and cohesion of societies, SPA reported.

In a statement issued Wednesday to mark Human Rights Day, observed annually on December 10, Al-Yamahi commended the efforts of Arab states to support and promote human rights, entrench the principles of justice and equality, and adopt best practices in line with regional and international developments.

He emphasized that the Arab Parliament places human rights at the forefront of its priorities through supporting legislation that safeguards fundamental rights and freedoms, and through its commitment to cooperation with national, regional, and international human rights institutions, to enhance protection mechanisms and promote a culture of respect for human rights across the Arab world.

Arab World

Israel Approves Nearly 800 Housing Units in Three West Bank Settlements 

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Israel Approves Nearly 800 Housing Units in Three West Bank Settlements 

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 

Israel has given final approval for 764 housing units to be built in three settlements in the occupied West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday.

The ultra-nationalist Smotrich, who opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, said that since the beginning of his term in late 2022, some 51,370 housing units have been approved by the government's Higher Planning Council in the West Bank, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We continue the revolution," Smotrich said in a statement, adding the latest approval of housing units "is part of a clear strategic process of strengthening the settlements and ensuring continuity of life, security, and growth ... and genuine concern for the future of the State of Israel."

The units will be spread out between Hashmonaim, just over the Green Line in central Israel, and Givat Zeev and Beitar Illit near Jerusalem.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements - on land it captured in a 1967 war - as illegal and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

"For us, all the settlements are illegal...and they are contrary to all the resolutions of international legitimacy," Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, told Reuters.

Israel says settlements are critical to its security and cites biblical, historical and political connections to the territory.

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have been on the rise. At least 264 attacks in the West Bank against Palestinians were reported in October, the biggest monthly total since UN officials began tracking such incidents in 2006, according to a UN report.

Arab World

Lebanon Foreign Minister Declines Tehran Visit, Proposes Talks in Neutral Country 

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji. (NNA)
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji. (NNA)
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Lebanon Foreign Minister Declines Tehran Visit, Proposes Talks in Neutral Country 

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji. (NNA)
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji. (NNA)

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said on Wednesday he had declined an invitation to visit Tehran for now, proposing instead talks with Iran in a mutually agreed neutral third country, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

Rajji cited “current conditions” for the decision not to go to Iran, without specifying further, and stressed that the move does not mean rejection of dialogue with Iran.

Last week, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi invited Rajji to visit Iran in the near future to discuss bilateral ties.

Rajji expressed “readiness to establish a new phase in constructive ties between Lebanon and Iran on condition that they are strictly based on mutual and absolute respect of each country’s independence and sovereignty and non-interference in their internal affairs in any way and under any pretext.”

“The establishment of any strong state cannot take place if the state, through its army, does not have sole control over possession of arms and does not have monopoly over decisions of war and peace,” he stressed.

Rajji added that Araqchi was “always welcome to visit Lebanon.”

The Lebanese government earlier this year decided to impose state monopoly over arms, which effectively calls for Hezbollah to disarm. Iran is the party’s main backer.

Hezbollah’s critics have over the years accused it of following an Iranian agenda at the expense of Lebanon’s interests.

They also accuse it of usurping the state’s decision-making power when it comes to war and peace. In 2023, the party started firing rockets at Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza. The clashes escalated to all-out war in 2024 with Hezbollah left severely battered.

In August, Iran's top security official Ali Larijani visited Beirut, warning Lebanon not to “confuse its enemies with its friends”. In June, Foreign Minister Araqchi said Tehran sought a “new page” in ties.