Palestinian groups slam Israeli decision to speed up settlement activity

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian groups in Gaza strongly condemned the Israeli government’s decision on Sunday to accelerate settlement activity and projects across the occupied West Bank.

In separate statements, the Fatah movement, the Hamas resistance movement and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) condemned the government’s decision to give hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich control over West Bank settlement planning.

"All (Israeli) colonial measures are invalid and illegitimate and will be dismantled, as happened for those settlements in Gaza," said Fatah spokesman Monther al-Hayek.

In 2005, then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of Israeli settlements in Gaza along with four settlements in the northern West Bank as part of his plan for disengagement from the territory.

He also urged the UN Security Council to pass Resolution 2334 related to the construction of Israeli settlements.

The Hamas group also condemned Israel’s latest move on settlement projects, saying it is part of the Israeli Judaizing of Palestinian territories.

"Those settlement projects will not give the (Israeli) occupation legitimacy on our lands," it said.

The PFLP said the Israeli escalation in settlement construction is part of a general escalation by Israel aimed at annexing the occupied West Bank.

Besides giving Smotrich full control over settlement plans, the Israeli government on Sunday also announced new tenders to build some 4,500 settlement units in existing settlements across the West Bank.

The United Nations considers Israeli settlement activity illegal and says it undermines the internationally-agreed two-state solution.

Estimates indicate that about 700,000 settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar