A sharp diplomatic reaction has followed comments by Mike Huckabee, after he appeared to accept Israel’s continued control over territory internationally recognised as occupied, including the West Bank. A broad group of Arab and Muslim-majority states, alongside regional bodies, denounced the remarks as a departure from established international norms and a destabilising signal at a moment of extreme regional tension.

In a coordinated response, foreign ministries and regional institutions argued that such statements undermine the legal framework set out in the United Nations Charter and long-standing resolutions that reject acquisition of land by force. They warned that language appearing to legitimise permanent control or annexation erodes the foundations of diplomacy and emboldens policies that have already fuelled a genocidal war in Gaza, deepening humanitarian catastrophe and political deadlock.

The critics stressed that the ambassador’s position sits uneasily with public claims by Donald Trump about seeking de-escalation and a political horizon. Any credible pathway, they said, requires rejecting unilateral measures, halting settlement expansion, preserving the territorial unity between Gaza and the West Bank, and restoring a framework in which rights, sovereignty and accountability are not selectively applied.

They further cautioned that continued expansionist policies and inflammatory rhetoric risk pushing the region into deeper instability, with consequences extending well beyond the immediate arena. Reaffirming support for self-determination and statehood within internationally recognised boundaries, the signatories called for an end to policies that prolong displacement, collective punishment and the imprisonment of civilians, insisting that durable peace cannot emerge from denial of law or history.