Awad al-Rujoub
January 30, 2023•Update: January 30, 2023
RAMALLAH, Palestine
Palestine on Sunday condemned Israel’s collective punitive measures against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.
On Saturday, the Israeli government announced measures aimed at expediting gun permits for settlers, and closing homes of Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said his government will take measures to deprive families of Palestinian attackers from national insurance and other family benefits.
The move came one day after at least seven Israelis were killed in a shooting attack near a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem Friday night.
In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry termed the Israeli measures as “grave violations of international law, the Geneva Conventions, a collective punishment, and an extension of the Israeli policies aimed at affecting the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and emptying it from its indigenous people."
The ministry called on the international community to intervene to halt the Israeli punitive measures against the Palestinians.
On Thursday, at least nine Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
Writing by Ahmed Asmar
