Hamas calls on Belgian govt. to implement resolution against Israel’s annexation plan

The Belgian parliament on Friday passed with an overwhelming majority a resolution calling on the government to take action to bar the Israeli regime from unilaterally annexing large parts of West Bank.

The Belgian legislators called on Brussels, the seat of the European Union (EU), to actively advocate for European-wide punitive measures against Tel Aviv if it went ahead with its highly-provocative scheme.

The motion urges the government of Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès “to take the initiative with third countries, at European and multilateral levels, to prevent the annexation [by] Israel of the Palestinian territories, or parts of them.”

In a press statement on Saturday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem hailed the decision made by the Belgian parliament, calling on its counterparts across the world to follow suit and pressure their respective governments to adopt punitive measures against the Israeli regime, the Palestinian Information Center reported.   

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Hamas spokesman also expressed hope that the international community and its bodies could take effective measures to prevent Tel Aviv from carrying out its “colonial” plans.

On Friday, Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory said the European bloc should back up its warnings against the Israeli plans with “a decisive menu of counter-measures.”

On Sunday, Palestinians formed a human chain across Rafah, in southern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip, to voice their strong dissent against the Israel’s annexation plan, the Palestinian Information Center reported.

The demonstrators waved Palestine flags and raised banners, denouncing the planned annexation and stressing that the “West Bank and Jordan Valley are Palestinian land.”