RAMALLAH/GAZA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership on Tuesday urged Palestinian civil and security institutions to refrain from cooperating with Israeli measures aimed at expanding control over the West Bank.
In a press statement, Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh called on Palestinians to remain steadfast and reject Israeli occupation laws.
"We call upon the Palestinian people to remain steadfast and resilient on their land and to categorically reject dealing with the occupation laws, the latest of which was approved by the Israeli government several days ago, which contradict international law and the agreements signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization," al-Sheikh said.
Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported Sunday that the Israeli Security Cabinet approved measures to deepen Israeli control and alter the legal status of the West Bank.
Among the controversial measures, the cabinet ordered the repeal of a Jordanian-era law banning land sales to Jews, removed the requirement for special transaction permits, and renewed a state land acquisition committee that ceased operating around 20 years ago.
These measures, Israeli officials argue, would enable Jews to acquire land in the occupied territory under simpler conditions.
Al-Sheikh urged the international community to "stand firmly against the extremist right-wing government in Israel."
In Gaza on Tuesday, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike in central Gaza, while a woman died from earlier gunfire in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incidents.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. The settlements it has built there, and its military occupation, are considered illegal under international law.
Palestinian officials have repeatedly warned that measures expanding settlements and extending Israeli civilian authority in the West Bank undermine prospects for a future Palestinian state. ■
