Hamas, Hezbollah declare united front against ‘israeli’ land grab bid

In a letter to Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, highlighted the “grave dangers” posed by Israel to the Palestinian cause, according to a statement by the Lebanese resistance group.

“The Palestinian people are capable of confronting this plan,” the statement said, calling on Arab and Muslim nations and “free people of the world to quickly move to stop the occupation’s continuous aggression against the Palestinian people.”

According to Lebanon’s al-Manar news website, the letter was handed by Hamas’ representative in Lebanon Ahmad Abdul Hadi and an accompanying delegation to Head of Hezbollah’s Palestinian File Hassan Hoballah.

The two sides reiterated their unified stance against the Israeli plot.

Hoballah reiterated Hezbollah’s support for the Palestinian struggles against Israel’s occupation, stressing that all the conspiracies against the Palestinian cause would be thwarted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set July 1 as the date for starting the annexation plan’s implementation, but the move faced delays amid internal rifts and as Tel Aviv awaits a green light from Washington.

The contentious plan — which would allow Tel Aviv to annex about 30 percent of the West Bank  — is in accordance with a Middle East scheme drawn up by the administration of US President Donald Trump and unveiled in January on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The scheme — which Trump calls the deal of the century — largely gives in to Israel’s demands while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders, enshrining the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”

The US-backed annexation scheme has drawn international criticism and triggered waves of protest rallies around the globe.

Indonesia rejects Israeli plan

On Monday, Indonesia’s government and House of Representatives also censured Israel’s plan to annex Palestinian territories.   

“President Joko Widodo fully supports our firm stance against the Deal of the Century, including the annexation of the West Bank by Israel,” Mardani Ali Sera, Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian parliamentary body for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP) told Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency.

Mardani said opposition to Trump’s so-called peace plan had been announced in a joint statement between the House and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

He added that the House and the Foreign Ministry would continue to work together to mobilize international support against the plan.

Mardani also proposed establishing a special unit under the Indonesian Foreign Ministry to encourage Palestinian independence.