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Middle East conflict

Palestinian group slams US for supporting idea of safe zones in Gaza

It is noted that "the aggression unleashed by [Israel] in the West Bank is part of a plan to expel the Palestinians from their land"

CAIRO, December 5. /TASS/. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has criticized the US for supporting the idea of safe zones for civilians in the Gaza Strip, seeing this as justification for Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

"Statements by White House representatives about safe zones are lies and serve to cover up the genocide perpetrated by the occupation [Israeli] army against the Palestinians," the radicals said in a post on Telegram. Palestinian Islamic Jihad also said that granting Israel the authority to control the flow of humanitarian aid to the sector "represents a partnership in aggression against the Palestinian people and an attempt to subjugate them to the [Israeli] authorities."

The group added that "the aggression unleashed by [Israel] in the West Bank is part of a plan to expel the Palestinians from their land." It said "the crimes in the West Bank and Gaza will only strengthen the determination of the Palestinian people to hold on to and defend their land."

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said earlier that the US believes Israel was right to publish maps of the Gaza Strip showing which areas are dangerous for civilians and which are not. He said Israel posted the map online to show Gazans where they should not go and where they could go with a certain degree of safety. He added that Israel is obviously making an effort to act with greater empathy and caution. We have been urging them to do so literally since the beginning of the conflict.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking more than 200 hostages, including children, women and elderly people. Hamas has cast the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a military operation there. Israel also strikes parts of Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for bombardments originating from these countries. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.

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