Children make their way through a waterlogged alley at a makeshift camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza Strip on Tuesday. — AFP GAZA, Feb 24 (AFP): Hamas on Tuesday called for sanctions against Israel, welcoming a joint condemnation by nearly 20 countries of new Israeli measures aimed at tightening control over the occupied West Bank.
Israel has approved a series of initiatives this month backed by far-right ministers, including launching a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and allowing Israelis to purchase land there directly.
Late on Monday, 18 countries including regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and European powers France and Spain, slammed Israel over the recent moves.
They "are part of a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation", the countries said.
"Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution."
Hamas hailed the condemnation as "a step in the right direction in confronting the occupation's expansionist plans, which flagrantly violate international law and relevant UN resolutions".
The group in a statement urged the countries involved "to impose deterrent sanctions and exert pressure on the fascist occupation government to halt its policies aimed at entrenching annexation, colonial settlement and forced displacement".
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