Armed resistance factions in the Gaza Strip vowed on Wednesday to respond to the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque and those stationed there, in return two ministers in the Israeli government called for a military escalation in Gaza and the West Bank.

This comes at a time when the League of Arab States is holding an emergency meeting at the level of permanent representatives at the joint Egyptian-Jordanian invitation to discuss the repercussions of the occupation storming Al-Aqsa, while the European Commission expressed its dissatisfaction with the storming of Al-Aqsa, demanding the preservation of the legal status of the holy places.

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque at dawn on Wednesday, assaulted the protesters inside, and arrested hundreds of them, while two ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's government called for escalation against the Palestinians.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Commission said that the occupation forces arrested more than 500 Palestinians during their storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Palestinian Red Crescent said that dozens of pilgrims at the mosque were injured.

The raid took place just before the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which is celebrated from the fifth to the 12th of April, and was justified by the occupation authorities by the presence of what they described as instigators inside the mosque.

Videos showed Israeli police beating protesters, including women, in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and handcuffing detainees.

The Israeli occupation forces beat the protesters and those stationed in the tribal prayer hall to force them out of the #المسجد_الأقصى
pic.twitter.com/DR5iwe4udn

— Al Jazeera (@AJArabic) April 4, 2023

Following the expulsion of the protesters and worshippers, settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa under heavy guard from the Israeli occupation forces, and extremist Jewish groups had called for storming Al-Aqsa and slaughtering offerings inside its courtyards to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Last night, the occupying forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during Taraweeh prayers to evacuate it from the retreaters, threw stun grenades inside the mosque, cut off the electricity supply to the tribal prayer hall and smashed the door of the medical clinic.

The minarets of Jerusalem raised calls for public alarm following the raid, while marches took place in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in support of Al-Aqsa Mosque and condemning the violations of the occupation.

Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted an Israeli official as saying that there are international efforts to calm down after rocket fire from Gaza and the events at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Rockets and raids

As part of the Palestinian response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the attack on the protesters inside, dozens of Palestinian youths demonstrated on Wednesday evening near the fence separating the Gaza Strip and Israel.

The demonstrators chanted takbeers and slogans, including "With soul and blood, we redeem you, O Al-Aqsa," and "On Jerusalem are martyrs in millions."

Young men demonstrate and burn rubber tires near the eastern border of the Gaza Strip to condemn the Israeli occupation forces' attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque. pic.twitter.com/tKArH4IOnF

— Shehab News Agency (@ShehabAgency) April 5, 2023

In turn, the armed resistance factions in Gaza confirmed that the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque and those stationed there will be met with "an inevitable future response."

The factions said, in a joint statement, that the continuous attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque, the incursions of extremists and the attack on those who were stationed by beating, breaking and arresting, is a dangerous Zionist aggression that requires a comprehensive popular and factional uprising to ignite the occupied Palestinian territory with fire and flames under the feet of the Zionists.

She stressed that "if the occupation thinks that the Zionists' storming of Al-Aqsa squares and the attack on those stationed there may go unnoticed, it is delusional."

On Wednesday morning, the Palestinian resistance fired about 10 rockets towards Israeli settlements in the Gaza periphery.

One of the rockets hit a factory in the settlement of Sderot, and the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The Israeli army responded with airstrikes and artillery shelling targeting Palestinian resistance positions in the Gaza Strip, blaming the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for firing rockets at Israeli targets.

Israeli threats

Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on the government to respond forcefully to rocket fire from Gaza and not by bombing uninhabited areas, he said.

Ben Gvir confirmed that he had called for an emergency meeting of the cabinet, which had not been held for two months, to approve a campaign of assassinations against resistance leaders in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the IDF to launch Operation Defensive Wall 2 in the West Bank, starting in Nablus and Jenin.

Smotrich added that the equation of response to Gaza must be changed with more painful blows.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy said events at al-Aqsa had increased tensions in Gaza and the West Bank, adding that any rocket fired at Israel would be met with an appropriate and effective response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was working to maintain the status quo and calm the situation after the events at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the West Bank, the Israeli army declared a state of alert and readiness on all fronts and squares on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, and announced the reinforcement of its forces on roads in the West Bank.

Palestinian and Arab Condemnations

In reactions, the Palestinian presidency condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and warned that crossing the red lines at the holy sites would lead to a major explosion.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, said that what is happening at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is an unprecedented crime and has its aftermath, calling on Palestinians in the West Bank and inside the Green Line to go to Al-Aqsa to protect it.

Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhaleh said what is happening at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque poses a serious threat to holy sites, adding that the Palestinian people must be prepared for the inevitable confrontation in the coming days.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and the Arab League condemned the new Israeli incursion into Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Jordan and Egypt called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League to discuss the Israeli escalation.

Internationally, Turkey and Iran condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the British Foreign Office's Secretary of State for the Middle East and Africa warned that it could fuel violence.

European positions

In Brussels, the European Commission expressed its dismay at the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces, demanding that the legal status of the holy sites be preserved.

Commission spokesman Peter Stano told a news conference in Brussels that the EU was closely following events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

He expressed the European Union's deep concern at the escalation of tension in Jerusalem.

In turn, Britain stressed the need to "respect and protect the sanctity and status of the holy places," and called for an immediate cessation of escalation following the Israeli storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem at dawn on Wednesday.

British Middle East Minister Tariq Ahmed tweeted: "I was shocked to wake up to see the disturbing scenes of the Israeli security forces' raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which led to the injury of many worshippers during the month of Ramadan."

For his part, the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, said he was appalled by the images that showed Israeli police beating worshippers inside the tribal mosque in Al-Aqsa, and Wennesland expressed his strong rejection of the assembly of stones and the use of firecrackers by Palestinians inside the mosque.

He added in a tweet that leaders from both sides should work responsibly to prevent any steps that could lead to an escalation of tensions, stressing the need to preserve the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque under Jordanian auspices.