Eight Arab and Muslim countries on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, called for adherence to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to all violations, urging Israel to fulfil immediately its commitments under the first phase of the comprehensive plan, amid continuing humanitarian suffering in the territory.
Foreign ministers’ meeting and the plan’s implementation process
This came in a statement issued after a meeting held by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Türkiye in New York on Monday, 21 September, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. The ministers expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, stressing the need to ensure the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and early-recovery supplies.
They also called for facilitating the rehabilitation of vital infrastructure needed by the territory’s residents. The statement said the roadmap was an integral part of the comprehensive plan and provided a framework for implementing its second phase. The ministers said this phase included restricting weapons alongside a full Israeli withdrawal, as well as deploying the International Stabilisation Force in the territory.
The steps set out in the roadmap also include the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza assuming its responsibilities across the territory, and the start of early-recovery and reconstruction operations in all its areas. The ministers called on all parties to fulfil their respective commitments in good faith and without delay.
Rejection of displacement and demographic change
The foreign ministers reiterated their categorical rejection of any measures aimed at expelling or forcibly displacing the Palestinian people from their homeland, as well as any attempts to alter the geographic or demographic character of the Palestinian land. The ministers condemned measures they described as unlawful and intended to entrench Israeli control and annexation.
The statement listed the accelerated expansion of settlements, land confiscation, the demolition of Palestinian homes, settler violence and forced displacement among those measures, calling for them to be halted and reversed immediately. The ministers also expressed deep concern over measures undermining the existing historical and legal status of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, stressing the need to protect the status of those sites.
The statement welcomed recent measures taken by the United Kingdom, along with broader national and European efforts, in response to Israeli settlement activity, which the ministers described as unlawful. It highlighted in particular measures aimed at halting trade with unlawful Israeli settlements.
The ministers called for further effective measures to halt settlement expansion and ensure accountability for settler violence, alongside stopping steps leading to land confiscation, home demolitions and the displacement of Palestinians. The statement affirmed that the Gaza Strip must remain an integral part of the Palestinian land, and that implementation of the comprehensive plan should help reunify the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with the Gaza Strip.
Call for Washington to ensure implementation of the plan
The ministers stressed that implementation of the plan should lead to a credible and irreversible path enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and establish an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, through the implementation of the two-state solution. The ministers praised US President Donald Trump’s leadership, affirming that the United States plays a central role in ensuring implementation of the comprehensive plan.
They called on Washington to engage in a sustained and effective manner to ensure that all parties, including Israel, fulfil their commitments and obligations, and to work to overcome obstacles to implementing the roadmap. The ministers said tangible progress on the ground would strengthen the credibility of the Peace Council and the effectiveness of the plan, providing the necessary momentum to advance its implementation.
The eight countries affirmed their readiness to continue working collectively with the United States, the Peace Council, the Palestinian Authority and all relevant parties to fully implement the comprehensive plan and roadmap, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, support their right to self-determination and establishment of an independent state, and achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.
