Top UN official warns of ‘gradual de facto annexation’ as Israel tightens West Bank control; Al‑Aqsa access curbed for Ramadan
A senior United Nations official warned the Security Council that recent Israeli steps to expand control over parts of the occupied West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority amount to “gradual de facto annexation,” escalating diplomatic tensions as Ramadan begins with new limits on access to Jerusalem’s Al‑Aqsa Mosque.
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“We are witnessing the gradual de facto annexation of the West Bank, as unilateral Israeli steps steadily transform the landscape,” UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told a council meeting on the Palestinian question. She said measures recently approved by Israel, backed by far-right ministers, would dangerously broaden Israeli civil authority in the West Bank, including in sensitive areas such as Hebron.
Under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, the West Bank was divided into areas A, B and C under varying degrees of Palestinian and Israeli control, with the territory envisioned as the core of a future Palestinian state. Israel’s new initiatives, according to DiCarlo, would deepen its reach in zones where the Palestinian Authority currently exercises limited autonomy.
In a joint statement, the UN missions of 85 member states condemned what they called Israel’s “encroaching control” in the territory. “We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank,” the statement said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected the criticism, saying, “Amazingly so many countries say the Jewish presence in our ancient homeland violates international law. No other nation in any other place in the world has a stronger right than our historical and documented right to the land of the Bible.”
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who chaired the meeting, urged action to “prevent the destabilization of the West Bank and preserve the viability of a Palestinian state,” and cited economic pressure on the Palestinian Authority, including Israel’s withholding of some of the PA’s tax revenues.
Diplomats said the council session was brought forward as U.S. President Donald Trump convenes a Washington meeting of his “Board of Peace,” a body originally formed to oversee the Gaza truce and reconstruction that now aims to address a wider array of global conflicts. “The board is not talking. It’s doing,” U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said, adding that “the chattering classes” were focused on its structure. The UN will not be represented at the meeting.
Separately, Israel announced new restrictions on West Bank Palestinians attending Friday prayers at Al‑Aqsa during Ramadan. COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry unit overseeing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said up to 10,000 worshippers from the West Bank would be allowed entry to the mosque compound each Friday, subject to a daily permit and security approval. Entry will be permitted for men 55 and older, women 50 and older, and children up to age 12 accompanied by a first‑degree relative, COGAT said, adding that returnees would undergo digital documentation at checkpoints.
Al‑Aqsa, Islam’s third-holiest site, sits in east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally. Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, attendance at the compound has fallen amid security restrictions and fears of violence.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli authorities barred the Islamic Waqf—the Jordanian-run body that administers the site—from routine Ramadan preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics. A senior imam, Sheikh Muhammad al‑Abbasi, said he had been prohibited from entering the compound for at least a week without being told why. Under long-standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound, which they revere as the site of two ancient temples, but are not permitted to pray there. Palestinians say that status quo is eroding as Jewish ultranationalists challenge the ban.
In Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a soldier reported killed in combat in the south of the strip died in a “painful friendly fire incident.” The military earlier identified the soldier as Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe, 21. The death brings to five the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since a cease-fire took effect on Oct. 10, according to Netanyahu’s office.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
