Foreign ministers of 13 states reject US envoy’s suggestion that Israel controls territory from Nile to Euphrates
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and 13 other Muslim-majority countries have strongly condemned comments by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggesting he would not oppose Israel’s takeover of large swaths of the Middle East, calling the remarks a blatant violation of international law and a serious threat to regional stability.
According to a statement shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, as well as the secretariats of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council, expressed their “deep concern” and their categorical rejection of the envoy’s comments.
Speaking in an interview with commentator Tucker Carlson, Huckabee argued that Israel has a biblical right to land stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates and said that “it would be nice if they took it all,” after a reference to the territory between the Iraqi Euphrates and the Egyptian Nile.
The foreign ministers said such statements constitute “a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations” and pose a serious threat to regional peace and security.
The joint statement highlights that these comments directly contradict the vision put forward by US President Donald Trump and the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, which they say aims to contain escalation and create a political path towards a settlement guaranteeing the Palestinians an independent state.
They stressed that Israel holds “no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or any other occupied Arab land” and strongly rejected any attempt to annex the West Bank or separate it from Gaza.
Separately, Saudi Arabia condemned what it called “reckless remarks” that violate diplomatic norms and threaten international peace, while Kuwait said the comments undermined sovereignty and contradicted Washington’s stated vision.
Oman called the comments illegitimate and damaging to regional stability, Jordan called them “absurd and provocative,” Egypt called them a “blatant departure” from international law, and Iraq said they constituted a serious attack on state sovereignty. The OIC called the comments “dangerous and irresponsible,” warning that they were based on a false and rejected narrative.
