25 Jan 2023; MEMO: Hamas has said that Benjamin Netanyahu's statements regarding the Palestinian presence and construction in the occupied West Bank constitute an official declaration of the annexation and Judaisation of Area C. The Israeli prime minister's comment that "Palestinian building [in Area C] … will not be tolerated" coincided with Israel's demolition of Al-Araqib in village in the occupied Negev for the 212th time.
"All attempts by the Zionist occupation to erase the Palestinian presence… through the policy of demolition, displacement and annexation will not withstand our people's steadfastness and courage, and their holding on to their land and rights," said Hamas spokesman Dr Abdel Latif Al-Qanou. He called on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the 1948-occupied territories to stand up to the Israeli government's plots and to confront illegal settlers.
In response to pressure to remove settler outposts — which are even illegal under Israeli law, as well as international law — Netanyahu told a Likud bloc meeting that his government came to power on a promise to change direction and fight "illegal" Palestinian construction. "However, this does not mean that we will allow illegal Israeli construction," he added.
