Smotrich on Monday ordered preparations for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, expressing his hope the administration of US president-elect Donald Trump will recognize Israel’s push for “sovereignty” over the occupied territory, according to Press TV.
Later in the day, Hamas said Smotrich’s remarks confirm the "colonial intentions" of the Israeli regime, and its denial of legitimate Palestinian rights.
The movement added that the remarks refute claims by those who are deluded into believing in peace and coexistence with the Israeli regime, which is built on "terrorism, rights theft, and land seizure."
“We reiterate that we and our Palestinian people and all resistance factions continue to confront the schemes of the occupation, and we will not allow the terrorist Smotrich and other Zionist war criminals to implement any of their malicious schemes,” Hamas said.
“The West Bank is a purely Palestinian land and an integral part of our independent Palestinian state, with al-Quds as its capital,” the group added.
Hamas urged the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations to take action to stop this Israeli regime, warning that such policies and schemes will increase regional and international tensions.
The Islamic Jihad movement also said Smotrich’s remarks acknowledge “the open war waged by the criminal entity” against the Palestinians “with the aim of taking control of their land and expelling the largest number of our Palestinian people.”
Noting that such remarks were made while an extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit was taking place in Saudi Arabia on the Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon, the group said they are “a slap in the face to all those who have bet on the course of negotiations over the decades and to all the normalizing [regimes].”
Meanwhile, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the Israeli minister’s statements are part of a comprehensive strategy pursued by Israel to end the presence of the Palestinian people on their land, including the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.
The group regretted that the US support and the international silence have further emboldened the Israeli regime.
MNA
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