The measure reflects an effort to increase Israel’s expansion in that territory, in defiance of the international community, Jamal Rushdi, spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, denounced in a press release.

Israel’s crimes in Gaza, despite their cruelty and brutality, should not divert attention from its current plan to annex lands in the West Bank, he warned.

Rushdi called on the world to take responsibility and adopt a position that ends such violations.

Palestinian officials also condemned Israel’s plan.

Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that peace and security in the Middle East is impossible without the establishment of a Palestinian State free of Israeli settlements and settlers.

He added that the move was a new challenge to the international community, which almost unanimously rejects Israel’s settlements in the West Bank.

Abu Rudeineh called on the United States to demonstrate its commitment to international law and force its ally “to stop the genocidal war that it is waging against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

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