![An Israeli flag flies from the Kidmat Zion Jewish settlement community on the outskirts of the Arab village of Abu Dis, where the Old City with its golden Dome of the Rock Islamic shrine is seen in the background, August 18, 2008 in East Jerusalem [David Silverman/Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages-82408846.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The Israeli government’s endeavour to relocate its ministries to the occupied Jerusalem is a “failed attempt,” Hamas announced yesterday.
“Israel’s acts to compel its ministries to move to Jerusalem, while threatening them with heavy financial penalties, reaffirms the depth of the occupation’s crisis in imposing its false legitimacy with unjust American support,” a Hamas official said in a statement.
The official added that the move manifested the occupation’s “exploitation of normalisation with some Arab and Islamic countries to support the Judaisation of Jerusalem,” calling on the Arab countries who recently built ties with Israel “to retract immediately.”
On 15 November, the Israeli government announced the relocation of various ministries and official departments to Jerusalem, warning that ministries who delayed the move would face “financial penalties.”
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