Hamas said on Sunday that the decision by the Israeli security cabinet to recognize 13 West Bank settlements as independent is a "racist replacement project."
The Palestinian military group claimed that the decision was a part of Israel's efforts to "steal [Palestinian] land and sacred sites and impose a hateful system of apartheid, in blatant violation of all international and humanitarian laws and conventions."
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said earlier today that his country's security cabinet approved a decision to separate 13 West Bank settlements from their "mother settlements" and make them independent, noting that it is "another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria."
