Deputy chairman of Hamas's political bureau Ismail Haniya condemned the ban imposed by the Israeli occupation government on the Islamic Movement as a dangerous precedent, and called for strongly confronting the move.

In a press statement on Friday, Haniya said that outlawing the Islamic Movement was part of the Israeli intents to erase everything related to Arabs and Muslims from the political and social arenas in the occupied territories in order to expand its control over the Palestinian land and holy sites.

"Though we realize that such foolish behavior will not change a bit of the equation or obliterate any of the convictions and constants from the hearts of our noble people, we see it as an act of aggression against our freedom of belief, which entails a serious action from our people and nation to frustrate its malicious goals," Haniya underscored.

Haniya hailed the Palestinians in the 1948 occupied lands for defending their rights and protecting their Arab and Islamic identity.