By Rasa Evrensel
ISTANBUL (AA) - Hamas on Friday condemned the Israeli seizure of 24,000 dunams (5,930 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank, calling it part of the Israeli government's ongoing efforts to assert full control over the West Bank and block the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In a statement, Hamas said: "This decision by (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich confirms the continuation of his government's fascist agenda to take control of the entire West Bank, thereby blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state."
“This is a clear sign of Israel’s colonial intentions and denial of the Palestinian people's national rights,” Hamas added.
Hamas emphasized the Palestinian people would defeat Israeli plans to annex their land and displace them, declaring that both the Palestinian people and all their factions would “continue to resist Israeli occupation.”
On Thursday, Israeli Channel 14 reported that under Smotrich's leadership, the Israeli government had announced the annexation of 24,000 dunams (5,930 acres) of West Bank land, marking one of the largest such actions in decades.
On Nov. 11, the far-right minister said that next year will see the application of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.
International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.
In July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi