Baghdad: The Palestinian Hamas movement considered, on Sunday, the Israeli Chief of Staff’s approval of plans to occupy Gaza as a declaration of a new wave of genocide and mass displacement.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, in a statement, Hamas described Israel’s plans to displace Gaza residents as a major war crime that reveals Israel’s disregard for international and humanitarian laws. It stressed that talk of bringing in tents in southern Gaza under the guise of “humanitarian arrangements” is misleading to cover up a crime of displacement and an imminent massacre.

Hamas believes that Netanyahu’s intentions to establish “Greater Israel” at the expense of Arab countries necessitate supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance as the nation’s first line of defense.