18 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Sunday condemned Israel's building of a large bus station in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, Hamas announced: "Building an Israeli bus station near the West Bank city of Nablus is a new crime and Zionist oppression on the Palestinians."
Hamas added: "The acceleration of normalisation of ties between the Israeli occupation state and the Arab countries encouraged the Zionist occupation to continue its aggression, crimes and violations against the Palestinians."
Israeli media reported that Israel had started building a large bus station near Nablus that serves Israeli Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
Last year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan declared the normalisation of ties with the occupation state of Israel.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also condemned the construction of the bus station, announcing in a statement: "Establishing the settler-only project undermines the chances for making peace based on the vision of the two-state solution."
It stated that the project that lies between Ramallah and Nablus: "Aimed to facilitate the settlers' movement and link the settlement road network with Israel."
"This falls within the context of the Israeli government's attempts and its race against time to annex the West Bank," the statement said.
According to Israeli and Palestinian estimates, about 650,000 Israeli settlers live in 164 settlements and 124 outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
