Hamas calls for Palestinians’ unity and resistance against Israeli plans to annex West Bank areas

The Hamas movement has called for unity among Palestinians against Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. “We call for the annexation project to be confronted with resistance in all forms,” said Salah al-Bardawil, a senior official of the Islamist movement, on Monday.

“We call on our people to transform this hardship into an opportunity to get the Palestinian project back on track,” AFP quoted the official as saying.

Despite deep divisions between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Bardawil called for a “union of the political class.” He called for a meeting between Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which includes various other Palestinian groups.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aims to begin a process of annexing West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley from July 1, as part of a US peace initiative.