Israel Exploits Iran War to Annex West Bank
The Palestinian government has issued a severe warning regarding Israel’s latest manoeuvres in the occupied territories. Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian revealed that the Zionist regime is systematically exploiting the escalation of conflict in the Persian Gulf as a smokescreen to intensify the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
In a briefing to the diplomatic corps in Palestine on Tuesday (17/3/2026), Foreign Minister Aghabekian emphasised that the divided attention of the international community due to the major war in the Gulf region provides an opening for Israel to strengthen its permanent illegal control over Palestinian land.
Aghabekian explained that Israel’s current actions are not merely sporadic physical territorial expansions. The Zionist regime is accelerating annexation efforts through strategic legislative and administrative measures.
This strategy is seen as directly undermining efforts to achieve a two-state solution and concretely threatening the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination in the future.
Foreign Minister Aghabekian reported that illegal Israeli settlers carry out planned attacks every day against Palestinian civilians. These anarchic actions include murders, physical assaults, burning of homes and vehicles, theft of natural resources, and destruction of productive agricultural land.
“This is done under the direct protection of the Zionist Israeli army,” Aghabekian stressed in his statement quoted from Anadolu.
In addition to physical violence, Palestine also highlights blatant violations of religious rights. Al-Aqsa Mosque has reportedly been closed since the war in Iran erupted, accompanied by strict restrictions on Muslims wishing to perform worship during the holy month of Ramadan.
Based on official data from the Palestinian government, the escalation of violence in the West Bank has resulted in a very high number of casualties. Here are the latest statistics:
Tensions in the Persian Gulf region itself reached a peak following US and Israeli airstrikes at the end of February that killed key figures in Iran. Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile attacks not only targeted military sites but also impacted global market stability and disrupted international flight routes.
The Palestinian government is now urging the international community to immediately take concrete legal steps based on international law to halt these systematic violations and protect the increasingly oppressed rights of the Palestinian people amid the regional conflict.