Hamas Condemns U.S. Consular Services in Efrat as Endorsement of Settlement Expansion

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has issued a statement condemning the United States’ decision to provide consular services within the Efrat settlement, located in the Gush Etzion bloc of the West Bank. This action is viewed as a dangerous precedent and a clear alignment with the settlement expansion plans of the occupying forces, effectively legitimizing the ongoing settlement activities and the regime’s dominance over the West Bank.Hamas emphasizes that this new U.S. initiative starkly contradicts Washington’s stated position against the annexation of the West Bank. The statement highlights the inconsistency of U.S. policies which while professing opposition to the annexation simultaneously undertakes actions that reinforce and stabilize Israel’s control over the occupied territories.