Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said the Israeli law "is a practice of racism and a flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian law."

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Edited by| Tony Wild
Politics section CJ journalist

16-Feb.-2023- RAMALLAH- GAZA strip

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       Palestinian officials in the government on Wednesday condemned the Israeli parliament's approval of a bill to revoke citizenship or residency from "Israeli-Arab attackers" who receive funds from the Palestinian Authority.

"The law is a natural outcome of a policy of double standards that send the wrong message to Israel, encouraging it to commit more and more of such violations as long as it can get away with it," Ishtaye added.

Meanwhile, Rawhi Fattouh, chairman of the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said that the new Israeli law "is fully rejected and condemned."

Fattouh added that "the consequences of the law will lead to more crimes and abuse against all non-Jews, and this is evidence of the out-of-control racism of the Israeli government, which seeks in every way to fabricate laws."

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that "the enactment of the law is a dangerous escalation in the situation and dragging it towards a mass explosion, and a disregard for all efforts and positions aimed at achieving calm."

In Gaza, the Islamic Resistance Movement called for international action "to reject those racist laws and to take the necessary punitive measures against the occupation for its grave violations of the most basic human rights standards."

The law gives Israel's interior minister the authority to revoke the citizenship or residency status of Israeli citizens if they were convicted of "terrorism," served a prison sentence and received direct financial payment "for the act" from the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose ultranationalist government pledged to take a hard line against Palestinian attacks, said the "answer to terrorism is to hit it hard."

The Palestinian Authority has been providing stipends to Palestinian prisoners, calling them welfare payments for families in need. Israel has been trying to stop the payments for years, charging they indirectly support attacks against Israelis.