Hamas slams French prime minister over Jerusalem status

By Nour Abu Eisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday condemned remarks by French Prime Minister Jean Castex in which he declared Jerusalem as “the eternal capital of the Jewish people.”

“This is a brazen bias to the Zionist occupation and its racist agenda and colonial policy against the Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a statement.

The statements “also run counter to the European Union positions,” the Palestinian group said.

On Friday, Castex claimed during a gala dinner hosted by the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) that “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people.”

“That does not stop anyone from recognizing and respecting the attachment of other religions to this city,” he said.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping East Jerusalem, now occupied by Israel, might eventually serve as capital of a future Palestinian state.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat in Ankara