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<h1 class="title">Hamas rejects US official's demands to designate
movement as 'terrorist' group</h1>
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<div class="stamp">June 22, 2017 - <font size="-2"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777748">http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777748</a></font><br>
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<div class="BodyDiv"> BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- In a statement released
on Wednesday, the Hamas movement rejected statements made by US
ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley on Tuesday, who urged the
United Nations to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization
and placed full blame of the dire humanitarian situation in the
besieged Gaza Strip on Hamas.<br>
<br>
<div>"We need to pressure Hamas to end its tyranny over the
people of Gaza. We should condemn Hamas in this council’s
resolutions and statements,” Haley<a
href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-calls-un-blacklist-hamas-and-punish-its-backers-1413426429"
target="_blank"> reportedly said,</a> adding that “we should
designate Hamas as a terrorist organization in a resolution,
with consequences for anyone who continues to support it."<br>
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<div>"Make no mistake, Israel did not cause the problems in
Gaza, even though it is often the usual suspect around here,"
Haley said. However, the<a
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777650"
target="_blank"> decade-long Israeli siege</a> of the small
Palestinian territory, along with three devastating Israeli
offensives, have prompted the United Nations to warn that Gaza
could become “uninhabitable” by 2020 due to Israel’s policies
in the enclave.<br>
<br>
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<div>Hamas rejected the statement, calling it “dangerous” and
contributing to the “growing incitement campaign” against the
movement, referring to the <a
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777529"
target="_blank">diplomatic crisis</a> plaguing the Gulf
countries after Saudi Arabia spearheaded a siege on Qatar,
accused of funding “terrorism” due to their support of Hamas.<br>
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<div>Hamas called demands to consider the group as a “terrorist
organization” a “despicable” and “racist act.”<br>
<br>
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<div>It represents “a complete bias toward the Zionist entity
(Israel) and a denial of Palestinians’ rights to resist under
occupation.”<br>
<br>
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<div>Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement that Israel
had not taken any steps to curb illegal Israeli settlement
expansions in the occupied Palestinian territory since the UN
had passed <a
href="https://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774590"
style="text-decoration-line: none;">Resolution 2334</a>,
which had urged Israel to “cease all settlement activities in
the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem,”
and underscored their illegality under international law.<br>
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</div>
<div>“There has been substantial increase in settlement-related
announcements as compared with the previous reporting period,
with plans for nearly 4,000 housing units moving forward and
2,000 tenders issued,” Mladenov said.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) released
data on Monday showing a 70 percent rise in construction of
settlements during the past year compared to previous year,
with Peace Now warning of increasing numbers in the coming
months.<br>
<br>
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<div>E<span style="font-size: 11pt;">arlier this month, an
Israeli minister presented a plan to the Knesset, Israel’s
parliament, </span><a
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777537"
style="font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: none;"
target="_blank">advocating for 67,000 additional illegal
settlement housing units </a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">to
be built in the West Bank to deal with Israel’s housing
crisis.<br>
<br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The plan was promoted amid
already rising concerns over Israel’s other plans to </span><a
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777525"
style="font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: none;"
target="_blank">advance some 2,500 illegal settlement
housing units</a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> across the
West Bank, including building units in in Amichai, Israel’s
first </span><a
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777409"
style="font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: none;"
target="_blank">new official settlement in more than two
decades</a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.<br>
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</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Meanwhile, Mladenov also
warned against the deteriorating situation in the besieged
Gaza Strip, saying that the two million residents of the
territory “can no longer be held hostage.”<br>
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</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 11pt;">“Gaza is a tinderbox,”
Mladenov said. “If and when it explodes, it will have
devastating consequences for the population and derail all
efforts at advancing peace.”</span></div>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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