The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) warned on Thursday against Israeli attempts to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to expropriate Palestinian land through its settlement activities and the annexation plans of occupied Palestinian land, reports Wafa News Agency.

“The escalation in settlement activities coincides with the crimes of settler gangs who are wreaking havoc against and assaulting our people by cutting down trees and attacking houses and vehicles in the streets, and starting to build roads for settlers, as is now taking place between the villages of Za'atra and Hawwara for the use of settlers, which is an attempt to create the Bantustans and ghettos for our people, believing that they can take advantage of the current situation to pass the so-called American deal of the century,” said the PLO in a statement following its meeting in Ramallah to discuss the latest developments.

The PLO also rejected intrusions by Israeli settlers of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem under police protection, as well as the excavations near the wall of the holy compound.