An injured man is transferred to a hospital following a shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 7, 2022. At least two people were killed and eight others injured in a shooting attack in Israel's coastal city of Tel Aviv on Thursday night, Israeli authorities said.(Photo: Xinhua)

The US State Department's decision to remove the Israeli extremist "Kach" movement from the list of foreign terrorist organizations has sparked condemnation and outrage among the Palestinians.

The Palestinian presidency said in a press statement on Sunday that it strongly condemned the decision as the movement was responsible for "incitement to kill and expel the Palestinians."

The US State Department said Thursday in a statement that it removed the group and four others from the terror organization list which was made under the US Immigration and Nationality Act.

"The American Congress insists on punishing the Palestinians by removing the Kach movement from the list of terror and considering the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] as a terrorist organization," the Palestinian presidency said.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the PLO's executive committee, said in a statement that the US decision "is astonishing."

"Insisting on keeping the PLO on the terrorist lists is the constant grievance, double standards, and a victory for injustice," he said in a statement, adding that the PLO "is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people."

The "Kach" movement was classified as a terrorist movement under Israeli law. 

It was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was assassinated in the US in 1990.

The group has been accused of being responsible for killing and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Xinhua