Any Peace Deal

 

An Israeli bulldozer operates at a construction site near a settlement in East al-Quds on December 7, 2023. (File photo by AFP)

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says Israel’s establishment of seven new settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank proves the regime should not be trusted for any peace deal. 

"The establishment of these settlement outposts and communities on lands classified as Area B in the West Bank, which fall under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority, reaffirms the failure of relying on peace settlement options with the occupation," the Tuesday statement read.

"It underscores the need to confront its criminal policies aimed at erasing the Palestinian presence on their land and its relentless efforts to displace the people of the West Bank,” Hamas stated.

Hamas also cited a report by Israeli human rights organization Peace Now, which revealed that Israeli occupying authorities had established at least seven new settlement outposts on Palestinian-owned land. 

This, according to Hamas, is part of the occupation regime’s ongoing plans to annex and Judaize the area, in blatant violation of international resolutions and laws that criminalize settlement activity.

Far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a close ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, recently urged the regime to take “control” of the Gaza Strip and adopt an “offensive” approach in the occupied West Bank to expand illegal settlements and block the creation of a Palestinian state.