Hamas: Israeli occupation authority plans to build tourist hotels in settlements serious escalation

Hamas Movement warned the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) over its plan to grant donations for establishing hotels and tourism facilities in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The movement described, in a statement released on Wednesday, such provocative move as a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions, emphasizing that all projects and plans of Judaization will never give the occupation legitimacy, and will never deter Palestinians from adhering to every inch of their land.

Hamas also stated: “In order to face this Zionist serious escalation, we call on all Palestinian forces and factions to stand alongside in face of those decisions and to unite for protecting the constants and defending the rights. We also call on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, and the UN organizations to intervene to put an end to such crimes and violations.”

Meanwhile, Hebrew press releases revealed that the Israeli government is set to approve offering governmental grants for building inside the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and specifically in Jerusalem.

Haaretz newspaper stated on Wednesday that it is for the first time that the government approves such a project as the Israeli law, passed in 1959, provides for offering support and financial grants for tourism projects only in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948.

It said that the Israeli cabinet is set to approve grants for building hotels in West Bank settlements near Jerusalem starting from January 2013.

The move comes amid Tourism Ministry projections of a dire lack of accommodation and hotel rooms in Jerusalem in upcoming years to absorb the increasing number of tourists coming to Jerusalem from all over the world.

The chief construction center is set for the city of Ma’aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, being the closest to the city and in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of the city of Bethlehem.