Palestinian factions in Damascus to coordinate ‘unified stance’ against Israel

[yankeedoodle]

Palestinian factions in Damascus to coordinate 'unified stance' against Israel
Hamas and the Syrian government recently rekindled their ties following a long period of tension and estrangement
https://thecradle.co/article-view/22118/palestinian-factions-in-damascus-to-coordinate-unified-stance-against-israel

A delegation representing Hamas arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus on 2 March in order to 'coordinate efforts' among the different Palestinian resistance factions, with the goal of confronting the 'extremism' of Benjamin Netanyahu's new government – particularly in the wake of the unprecedented escalation of tensions across the occupied territories.

"The delegation held a series of meetings, during which they discussed the current situation in the occupied territories, the implementation of extremist Israeli policies and escalation of violence against the Palestinian people, as well as Israel's rejection of international resolutions," particularly relating to illegal settlement expansion, Palestinian sources told Russian news outlet Sputnik.

Another meeting will be held this afternoon with the representatives of the Palestinian factions in Syria, aimed at announcing a unified stance against settlement expansion and other 'escalatory actions.'

According to the sources, the Palestinian representatives will also meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On 25 February, Israel approved a plan to support the construction of about 4,000 additional settlement units in the occupied West Bank, despite the fact that it was reported a few days earlier that it would temporarily halt settlement expansion.

A day later, on 26 February, Netanyahu confirmed that his government never had any plans to halt the expansion. This coincided with a Palestinian shooting operation that left two settlers dead in the West Bank town of Huwara, in the city of Nablus. In response, settlers launched a violent rampage in Huwara, killing one Palestinian, injuring hundreds, and destroying dozens of homes and vehicles.

The next day, another Palestinian shooting operation that killed a settler prompted Israeli troops to lay siege to the entire West Bank city of Jericho.

This massive surge in tension is the result of the new Israeli government's excessively extremist nature. Since its inauguration, the Israeli government has issued drastic restrictions against Palestinian prisoners and has proposed annexing large swathes of Palestinian territory.

Just yesterday, the Israeli Knesset passed its first reading of a bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners convicted of carrying out attacks against Israelis.

The meeting of the Palestinian factions in Syria's capital on Thursday comes in the aftermath of a recent rekindling of relations between the Syrian government and the Hamas movement, as the latter took an aggressive stance against Damascus following the start of the war in 2011.