RAMALLAH/GAZA — Palestine has strongly condemned Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s “racist statements”.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Friday in a press statement that it condemned in the strongest terms “the racist statements and stances of Ben-Gvir”.
In an interview with Israel’s N12 News on Wednesday, Ben-Gvir said the right to life and movement for him and his family trumped the right to movement for Palestinian Arabs in the occupied West Bank.
“Such statements are considered as an incitement to perpetuate the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, deepen settlements, and impose more forms of injustice against the Palestinians,” the Ministry statement added.
“Ben-Gvir’s remarks summarise the current situation and the daily life of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as the unjust siege on our people in the Gaza Strip,” it noted, adding “the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank have turned the life of the Palestinians into a continuous daily journey of torment”.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and various other Palestinian factions have condemned Ben-Gvir’s remarks, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Palestinian factions called on the international community to “translate its condemnations into practical measures to hold the occupation leaders and settlers accountable for their crimes”. — IANS
