The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has strongly condemned an Israeli plan to legalize at least 19 Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement released on Friday, Hamas said the move “constitutes a dangerous escalation in the annexation and Judaization project” of Palestinian territory.
“It reflects the extremist nature of the government, which treats Palestinian land as colonial spoils and desperately seeks to entrench a settlement reality, ultimately aiming for complete control over the West Bank,” the statement read.
The resistance group called the decision a “blatant violation of international law and Security Council resolutions,” and called upon the international community, the United Nations, and human rights organizations to assume their responsibilities in the face of this unchecked colonial behavior of Israel.
The condemnation followed after Israel’s so-called security cabinet on Thursday. approved a plan by Israel's extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, to legalize 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank.
This comes as the Israeli regime presses ahead with its aggressive plans to seize more Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
The plan allocates the funds across new and recently authorized settlements as well as dozens of existing communities and outposts currently undergoing legalization.
The move has drawn immediate condemnation from Palestinian officials and the international community, with Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, saying, “All the settlements are illegal…and they are contrary to all the resolutions of international legitimacy.”
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh has said the decision represents “a dangerous escalation that destroys any chance for peace and directly challenges international legitimacy.”
Palestinians have also described the plan as “ethnic cleansing by other means.”
The Israeli regime has escalated its West Bank violence and settlement expansion since October 7, 2023, when it launched a genocidal war on Gaza. Since then, Israeli forces and settlers have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied territory.
Gaza death toll surges past 70,000
Separately, Hamas said in an update on Friday that the toll of the Israeli aggression against the besieged Palestinian territory had risen to 70,373 martyrs and 171,079 injuries since October 7, 2023.
A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, as ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them until now, it added.
Israel and the Palestinian resistance group agreed in October to the truce intended to increase the flow of aid into the besieged strip, which has been devastated by nearly two years of Israel's genocidal war.
Since the ceasefire, Palestinians have been able to recover at least 627 bodies.
Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli attacks have continued; at least 383 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks and airstrikes across Gaza since October 10.
This comes as Israel still controls more than half of the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Large parts of the besieged Palestinian territory remain inaccessible due to the continued presence of Israeli occupation forces.
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