Hamas to confront US, Israel over Jerusalem move

Head of Islamic Hamas movement Ismail Haneya has called on relevant parties to set up a "comprehensive confrontation strategy" to foil the US and Israeli moves on Jerusalem.

"This strategy needs us to move on two tracks. One is to declare the death of the so-called peace process and the other is to end all types of normalisation with the Zionist enemy," said the Hamas leader.

Based on the ongoing Palestinian Intifada against Israel, the strategy should prepare an unified Palestinian, Arab and Islamic program to confront the Jerusalem decisions, said Haneya on Tuesday in an emailed statement.

He also called on other countries which support Palestinians and oppose US policies in the region to join them in the unified strategy, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said neither US President Donald Trump nor Israel's ruling Likud party "would be able to change the identity or the features of Jerusalem, which has always a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic face and identity".

In a vote overnight between Monday and Tuesday, Israel's Parliament passed an amendment that will make it more difficult for the government to cede parts of East Jerusalem in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

The new legislation was also likely to heighten even further the tensions sparked by Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6.

Trump's statement had triggered widespread protests in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 13 Palestinians were killed during clashes with Israeli security forces, according to the Palestinian media.

The decision was also overwhelmingly condemned at the UN, where 128 countries voted against Trump's fulfilment of a campaign promise.

Trump on Tuesday tweeted that the US may stop aid payments to Palestinians who are "no long willing to talk peace", the BBC reported.

--IANS

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