Hamas condemns Israeli minister over racist statement

The racist statements made by Smotrich and the use of a map portraying Jordan as part of Israel during a speech in Paris reflect the Israeli colonial mentality, Haneyya said in a statement issued Monday.

Such remarks indicate that both Palestine and Jordan face the same Israeli threat. Therefore, both parties should organize a strategic dialogue to confront the serious Israeli colonial plans, the statement reads.

For his part, Hamas's spokesman, Jihad Taha, has condemned the statements made by the Israeli Minister of Finance denying the existence of a Palestinian people and history as racist comments that uncover the true face of the criminal Israeli occupation.

The Hamas official called on the international community to take a serious position towards these racist statements that only pave the way for more displacement and more massacres and crimes against the Palestinian people.

Earlier Sunday, Smotrich delivered a speech in Paris, saying the notion of a Palestinian people was artificial.

“There is no such thing as a Palestinian nation. There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language,” he said in France late Sunday.

He spoke at a memorial event for a French-Israeli right-wing activist who denied the existence of a Palestinian nation and advocated annexation of the West Bank. The lectern was adorned with what appeared to be an image showing the map of Israel that included the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Jordan.