The Hamas Movement urged Palestinians across the West Bank, including cities, villages, and refugee camps, to participate in a “Day of Rage” on Friday.

This initiative aims to express solidarity with Gaza and protest against Israeli plans to expand control over West Bank.

The call to action comes amid the ongoing blockade and systematic starvation policy in Gaza, along side escalating settlement activities in West Bank.

Recently, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the construction of 3,401 housing units in the E1 area, located East of Jerusalem.

Hamas has condemned this move, labeling an attempt to sever northern West Bank from its southern regions and isolate Palestinian communities around occupied Jerusalem.

Hamas described the move as an attempt to sever the northern West Bank from its southern areas and isolate Palestinian communities around occupied east of Jerusalem.

Hamas emphasised that the appropriate response to these projects is “action on the ground and popular escalation”. They urged Palestinians to defend homes, farms, and land against Israeli annexation and confiscation efforts.

It also called on all Palestinian factions, political movements, youth committees, unions, and popular organizations to unify efforts to support communities under threat of settlement expansion.

The group asserted that Palestinian land “belongs solely to our people” and stressed that protests and actions should extend across Palestinian and internationally to convey a clear message: “ The occupation will not last and annexation plans will fail through determination and ongoing resistance of the Palestinian people“.

The E1 area spans 12 square kilometers under the municipal jurisdiction of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement. Originally proposed during Yitzhak Rabin’s government, construction plans were frozen in 2005 due to international pressure, particularly from the United States, over concerns that the expansion would undermine a future Palestinian state.

In March, Israel approved the construction of a bypass road for Palestinians south of E1, which diverts Palestinian traffic away from Route 1, allowing near-exclusive settler use between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.