The Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, called on Monday for Palestinian " unity " and " resistance " to face the Israeli plan to annex sections of the occupied West Bank.
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" We call to confront the project of annexation by resistance in all its forms (...) and we call on our people to turn this ordeal into an opportunity to put the Palestinian project back on track, " said a senior Hamas official. , Salah al-Bardawil, at a press conference in Gaza.
" It is the duty of every free Palestinian citizen to speak out against this blatant aggression on our earth, " he added, calling for a " political class union " in the face of President Donald Trump's plan. to try to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rocket target
Hours after Hamas' call, Israel was hit by rockets, the first in more than a month, the IDF said in a statement, without giving further details. Israel must unveil from July 1 its strategy to implement the plan of the American administration for the Middle East, which provides in particular for the annexation by Israel of colonies and of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinians, from Hamas to Fatah of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have rejected the American plan, which also proposes the creation of a Palestinian state on a fragmented territory and without East Jerusalem as its capital, contrary to what they wish. The Hamas and Fatah parties have been at loggerheads since the Islamist movement took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a near civil war, a year after winning the parliamentary elections. Since then, all efforts at reconciliation have failed.
" There is no room for monopoly, exclusion or dominance within the Palestinian leadership, " said Salah al-Bardawil, calling for an upcoming meeting with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ) which brings together many factions except Hamas in particular. Two million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, an impoverished enclave under an Israeli blockade and wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
In the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority governs Mahmoud Abbas, more than 2.7 million Palestinians live with more than 450,000 Israeli settlers. Last week, incendiary balloons were launched from Gaza to Israel. The shootings were not linked to the planned annexation of parts of the West Bank but were aimed at forcing the Hebrew state to let monetary aid flow from Qatar to Gaza, according to local sources.
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