A council has defended its decision to twin with an occupied city in the West Bank.
In a full council meeting held in May, Brent Council in north-west London voted to twin with Nablus to promote "cultural, social, economic, and educational exchanges".
Since then, a petition has been set up against the move, saying the twinning did not give due regard to the effects this decision would have on all of its residents.
But Labour council leader Muhammed Butt said it "was not taken lightly" and that it "followed a period of public engagement, including a petition signed by more than 2,000 residents".
In an email response to residents, Butt said he wanted to "acknowledge the pain and trauma that continue to affect Jewish communities both here in Brent and around the world following the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7th".
He said the decision to twin did not represent "support for any political group or administration in Nablus".
"Rather, it reflects Brent's humanitarian values and a desire to connect with ordinary people in another part of the world who, like us, strive for peace, education, dignity, and progress for the next generation," he said.
Nablus sits in the West Bank, a landlocked territory illegally occupied by Israel in a war in 1967, along with the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has controlled Gaza, while Fatah administers areas in the West Bank.
The two groups are rivals; the Hamas movement was founded to challenge the Fatah-led Palestinian Liberation Organisation and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Fatah has recognised Israel, said it renounced terrorism in 1988 and seeks a two-state solution for a Palestinian homeland; Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a cross-border attack on 7 October 2023.
Since then, more than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
