Gaza’s Ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments) has condemned Israel’s decision to annul residence permits for thousands of Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents.
“Israel has abruptly cancelled residence permits for 14,595 Palestinians in Jerusalem,” the Hamas-run ministry said in a statement released late Wednesday.
“The Israeli authorities continue to escalate their Judaization campaign in the city, while carrying out settlement projects [in the occupied West Bank] and adopting brutal security measures against Palestinians there,” the statement read.
It went on to note that, last month alone, Israeli forces had demolished dozens of Palestinian structures in and around Jerusalem.
“The Israeli authorities are pursuing a massive settlement project with a view to bringing some 150,000 Jewish settlers into Jerusalem while driving 100,000 Palestinians from the city,” the ministry said.
Read: Israel committing ‘war crime’ by revoking residency of Jerusalemites