Iran Press/ Middle East: Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Mohammad Shatayyeh on Tuesday condemned the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Monday statements and said: "Pompeo's support to the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories is a violation of international law and the United Nations resolutions which consider building settlements in these territories a crime."
Shatayyeh added that the US government is adopting this policy to support the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the last moments of the new elections.
He further described the expansion of the Israeli settlements as illegal and a war crime against the Palestinian land and people.
Hamas Spokesman Hazim Qasim also condemned Pompeo's statements, describing it as a violation of international law.
The EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini issued a statement on early Tuesday, saying: "The European Union's position on Israeli settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear and remains unchanged."
Egypt's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmad Hafez had a backlash too, saying that Cairo is abiding by the UN resolutions and the international law regarding the expansion of the Israeli settlements, also describing it as illegal and a violation of international law.
These reactions were in response to the US stand on Monday in which it discontinued its former position and said it supported Israeli regime's building of settlements on the occupied West Bank.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that US administrations' stance since 1978 on Zionist settlements was not coordinated and now it backs Israeli regime's expansionist policy.
The new US policy which is against decisions of world bodies like EU and International Court of Justice has outraged the global community, Arab World, and Palestinians.
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