According to Hamas, the Israeli government’s condemnations of the attacks are "nothing more than a smokescreen” meant to ease international pressure.Follow us on GoogleIsraeli settler extremists throw stones at a dirt road at the Palestinian village of Kusra, in the West Bank, in an attempt to block the movement of Palestinians and Israeli forces, August 12, 2026(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFAUGUST 31, 2026 11:19Hamas on Sunday condemned the escalating settler violence in the West Bank, claiming it to be part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “genocidal war” against Palestinians in a statement shared on the terrorist group’s English-language Telegram channel.“War criminal Netanyahu, who spearheaded the genocidal war against our people in Gaza, is pursuing the same criminal approach in the West Bank by giving colonial-settlers free rein to escalate their organized terrorism, as an extension of his policies of killing, displacement, and ethnic cleansing,” Hamas wrote in its statement.Further, Hamas argued that Netanyahu is allowing the violence to appease right-wing extremists.According to Hamas, the Israeli government’s condemnations of the attacks are "nothing more than a smokescreen” meant to ease international pressure.Further, Hamas claimed the condemnation is to rid itself of direct responsibility for the attacks while continuing to “provide protection and cover for the settlers, giving them free rein to commit further crimes” against Palestinians.Footage showing extremist settlers running in the West Bank village of Kusra, August 12, 2026. (credit: screenshot/section 27a copyright act)The statement follows ongoing clashes in the Palestinian village of Kusra, and the incident last week in which MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionist Party) destroyed a monument in Kafr Madama near Nablus.Hamas condemns Ben-Gvir taunting female prisonersIn a separate statement, Hamas condemned National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to Damon Prison, during which he was seen touring a security wing and speaking with female prisoners.A statement from Ben-Gvir’s office claimed that the prisoners were female Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists.In footage published by Ben-Gvir on Sunday, he can be seen speaking to the women about the harsh prison conditions and the revocation of benefits that had been customary in the past. Responding to their complaints, the minister said that “our hostages did not have shampoo and did not have these conditions [in Gaza].”"I heard the prison officers and also the complaints of the terrorists,” Ben-Gvir said. “We are not apologizing; anyone who harms Israeli civilians will not receive a kindergarten in prison. Terrorists, both male and female, will receive the minimum required by law, and nothing beyond that.”Hamas, in its statement, criticized Ben-Gvir for turning the women’s “suffering into a showpiece before cameras,” which reflects the “extent of fascism and political and moral depravity, and exposes the vengeful, terrorist mindset” Israel and its leaders have.“We warn of the danger of continuing to turn the occupation's prisons into open arenas for violations, humiliation, threats, torture, and murder, and of exploiting the occupation's leaders the suffering of our prisoners as cheap electoral propaganda,” it wrote. “We emphasize that these crimes require effective action at all levels to support their cause and put an end to their suffering.”Hamas: Int'l community, UN failed to hold Israel accountableThe terror group also noted that the failure of the international community and the United Nations to hold Israel accountable and prosecute its leaders “is what encouraged them to continue these violations and turn them into a daily practice.”“The verbal statements of condemnation remain fruitless, as long as the occupation continues its crimes without accountability or deterrent punishment,” it concluded, calling on the international community to draw the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israel to the public eye and “refuse to allow their suffering to be normalized or treated as a matter of routine.”Follow us on Google