Hamas: US ‘legalisation’ of settlement ‘political massacre’

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday that the US’ announcement that it no longer considers Israeli settlement illegal “is political massacre”.

In a statement sent to journalists, Haniyeh said: “The decision announced by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo related to Israeli settlement is a dangerous political massacre which greenlights bloodshed and crimes carried out by the occupation.”

He added: “This decision represents a satanic alliance against the right of the Palestinians to remain on their land, protect their holy sites and hand over their land to the future generations.”

The top Hamas leader continued: “This decision is a continuation of the series of US positions aimed at undermining the principles of the Palestinian cause – Jerusalem, refugees and, today, settlements.”

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Therefore, he said, “the Palestinians will not remain silent ahead of these political and bloody massacres and they will stick to their rights and defend them.”

Meanwhile, he stressed that the Palestinian official stance “must turn from condemnation to actual confrontation by laying down a national strategy far away from Oslo and based on the national Palestinian legacy of resistance and unity.”

On Monday, Pompeo announced that the US no longer considers Israeli settlements as illegal, a move which has led to condemnation from the international community.