RAMALLAH, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials on Tuesday accused the U.S. government of trying to break apart the region.

Their accusations came in response to the ongoing tour of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the Middle East over promoting Arab normalization with Israel.

"Arming Israel instead of keeping it to the international legitimacy clearly shows that Washington is an ally that shares the Israeli occupation and its crimes against the Palestinian people," said Saleh Rafat, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, in a press statement.

Taher al-Noono, a media aide to the Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said in a separate press statement that Pompeo's tour in the region "aims at carrying on with the crime of normalization."

Hamas calls on the Arab states that Pompeo plans to visit "not to get engaged with the American efforts to implement the rejected Deal of the Century silently," al-Noono said.

"All these attempts aim at beautifying the image of the occupier (Israel) in the region, justifying its crimes and denying the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," he added.