The Knesset’s (parliament’s) approval of the initiative in its first reading represents a dangerous escalation in the progressive policies of colonial annexation and systematic ethnic cleansing practiced by the occupying state, he stated in a press release.

The Palestinian leader asserted that the plan violates international law and several UN Security Council resolutions.

Using heritage as a colonial political tool to seize land and impose Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories clearly reveals the intentions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, he emphasized.

Granting the Palestinian Antiquities Authority the power to expropriate, excavate, and impose control over areas in the West Bank constitutes a direct attack on the sovereign rights of the Palestinian people, he reaffirmed.

Given this situation, he called on the world, and especially the International Criminal Court, to take urgent measures “to stop these colonial crimes.”

He also demanded criminal accountability from Israeli leaders and urged them to move from verbal condemnations to concrete actions to prevent ethnic cleansing.

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