Hamas says armed resistance main tool to thwart Israeli annexation plan

A senior official from the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas says armed resistance is a main tool to thwart the Israeli plan of annexing parts of the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

“The Israeli annexation plans are a new crime added to the crimes of stealing Palestinian land and resources,” Mousa Abu Marzouk said.

Abu Marzouk stressed that Hamas would use all means available to thwart those plan, including armed resistance as a main tool.

Hamas’ military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, on Thursday described the Israeli decision as a “declaration of war” on the Palestinian nation.

Israel's plan to annex parts of West Bank amounts to ‘declaration of war’: Hamas

Hamas says Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley amounts to a “declaration of war” on Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority has already terminated all agreements with Israel over the annexation plan, a brainchild of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has set July 1 as the date for the start of cabinet discussions on the annexation plan.

Netanyahu has been driven ahead by US President Donald Trump, who unveiled a “peace” plan for the Middle East in January that effectively sidelines the Palestinians altogether.

The plan, which Trump himself has described as the “deal of the century,” envisions Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also denies Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homeland, among other controversial terms.

The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Palestinians protest against Israeli plan

Tens of thousands of Palestinians took part in a protest called by Hamas in the city of Khan Yunis in the besieged Gaza Strip in condemnation of the Israeli annexation plan.

Speaking at the rally, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, Salah al-Bardawil, said the Israeli would be expelled from Palestinian lands.

He also denounced the normalization of ties between some Arab regimes and Tel Aviv.

Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab states that have open diplomatic ties with Israel. However, some of the others, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, have been tilting toward the Tel Aviv regime increasingly openly in the recent past.

Israeli forces attack anti-settlement protesters

Meanwhile, Israeli forces attacked Palestinians taking part in weekly protests against Israeli settlement construction, in Kafr Qddum, in the occupied West Bank, on Friday, leaving many protesters injured.

Nine of the injured were hit by rubber bullets, while dozens of others suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli troops, according to Murad Shetewi, the central organizer of the protests.

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