Palestinian groups condemn Israel's 'fascist settler-colonial' project aimed at annexing West Bank

Hamas, in an official statement released on Sunday measures such as land seizures, the registration of property for Zionist settlers, and de-authorization of Palestinian municipalities are aimed at imposing the regime’s false sovereignty , and ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their land.

A report published in The Cradle on Sunday said that the Israeli cabinet had approved a broad series of measures designed to accelerate settlement growth in the occupied West Bank and tighten Israeli control over the area.

The measures have been championed by two notorious Israeli cabinet ministers, namely finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and the regime’s war minister Israel Katz.

The two are known for their deep hatred of the Palestinians and their persistent efforts to undermine the rights of people in the occupied territories.

The measures include repealing a decades-old Jordanian-era prohibition on Jewish citizens purchasing land in the occupied West Bank, declassifying previously confidential land registry records to make property ownership details public, eliminating special transaction permits for land sales, and shifting certain administrative and planning authorities—including in the city of Hebron—from Palestinian municipalities to Israel's so-called Civil Administration.

Additional changes expand Israeli enforcement powers in Palestinian-administered Areas A and B for issues such as environmental, archaeological, and heritage matters, potentially allowing demolitions or interventions in Palestinian-controlled zones.

In its statement, Hamas denounced the decisions as falling within a "comprehensive annexation plan" alongside Israel's "genocidal war and ethnic cleansing."

The group highlighted specific elements, such as land seizures, opening property registries to benefit settlers, and attempts to infringe on Palestinian municipalities—particularly in Hebron—as efforts to alter geographical and legal facts on the ground and impose Israeli control.

"We affirm that the Zionist occupation cabinet's approval of new decisions targeting our people and land in the West Bank... falls within the fascist settler-colonial approach," the statement read.

The movement called for national unity and resistance against these plans, urging Palestinians to confront the fascist occupying regime and its settlers by all available means.

Hamas called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds to "intensify the confrontation with the occupation and its settlers by all available means" to thwart annexation, Judaization, and forced displacement.

The resistance movement emphasized that Palestinians "will not surrender to these occupation policies" and will uphold their historical rights through steadfastness and resistance.

It further demanded that Arab and Islamic states fulfill their "historical responsibility" by cutting relations with Israel, expelling its ambassadors from countries with ties, and adopting a unified position in support of Palestinian rights.

Hamas also urged the United Nations and international community to apply "real and effective pressure" on Israel to halt violations and hold it accountable for crimes against Palestinian land and people.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian presidency on Sunday described the decisions as "illegal, null and void," saying that they constitute "the practical implementation of annexation and displacement plans" and violate agreements signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, international law and UN resolutions, according to official news agency WAFA.

The presidency called on the international community to intervene immediately to halt the measures, which it said threaten efforts to reduce regional tensions.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned Israel's "desperate attempts" to alter the legal status and character of the occupied Palestinian territory, calling the actions "criminal."

"Israel has no sovereignty over any of the occupied Palestinian territories or cities ... has no legal right to repeal or amend existing laws, including Jordanian laws and legislation that are part of the Palestinian legal system," the ministry said.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Al-Quds in the 1967 Middle East War. The settlements it has built there, and its military occupation, are considered illegal under international law.

Palestinian officials have repeatedly warned that measures expanding settlements and extending Israeli civilian authority in the West Bank undermine prospects for a future Palestinian state.