Oman, Islamic nations slam US envoy’s remarks on Israel’s ‘biblical right’

2026-02-22 - 16:36

Muscat – Oman along with Arab and Islamic countries has issued a joint statement condemning the remarks by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who suggested Israel had the “biblical right” to expand its territory across the Middle East – from the Euphrates to the Nile. “It would be fine if they took it all,” he told podcaster Tucker Carlson on Friday when asked if Israel had the right to claim “basically the entire Middle East as its own”, based on precedent laid out in the Bible. The statement released by the foreign ministries of the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and the State of Palestine, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The nations expressed ‘strong condemnation and grave concern’ over the envoy’s comments, describing these as dangerous and provocative. They stressed that such remarks constitute a flagrant violation of international law and the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and pose a serious threat to the security and stability of the region. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee The signatories reaffirmed their categorical rejection of any recognition of Israeli sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory or any other occupied Arab lands. They underscored that Israel has no sovereignty over these territories and firmly rejected any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip. The statement said that the message directly contradicts the vision put forward by US President Donald Trump for Gaza, as well as the plan to end the war, which are based on containing escalation and creating a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement that ensures the Palestinian people have their own independent state. They warned that statements seeking to legitimise the control of others’ lands undermine prospects for peace, inflame tensions and amount to incitement rather than constructive diplomacy. The ministries also voiced strong opposition to the continued expansion of Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories and rejected any threats to the sovereignty of Arab states. Concluding the statement, the signatories reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the establishment of an independent state along the June 4, 1967 borders, and called for an end to the occupation of all occupied Arab territories.