Press release issued by the spokesperson of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, Fawzi Barhoum stated the following:

The latest Israeli decision made by the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Israeli Occupationmunicipality to build 10 thousand settlement units in occupied Jerusalem is a flagrant aggression against our people's rights and their holy shrines. The Israeli intransigence is emboldened by the American support,  the world's silence over the ongoing Israeli crimes and violations and  the Palestinian Authority's agreement with the American policies and its readoption of negotiations with Israeli Occupation. .  All these  circumstances serve as an international  approval of the Judaization of Jeruslaem and the rise of a apartheid  and extremist Jewish state.

We urge our Palestinian people to confront the Israeli barbarity no matter what the sacrifices.   . The head of the PA and his government based in Ramallah must  make way for all forms of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank to defend the Palestinian shrines and land. They must also stop counting on the misleading American initiatives since they only reinforce  the Israeli Occupation in the region and target the Palestinian just cause.