The head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, warned on Friday against harming the Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that the resistance will do its duty to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. This coincides with mass marches in Gaza City on the occasion of the "International Day of Jerusalem", and the injury of dozens of Israeli forces in dispersing weekly marches in the West Bank and the arrest of about twenty others.
This came in a speech by Sinwar in Gaza City, during a festival organized by the Palestinian Committee for International Jerusalem Day, on the occasion of "International Jerusalem Day" corresponding to the last Friday of Ramadan.
Sinwar vowed to intervene the resistance to support and protect worshipers on the Temple Mount, and said that "the Americans, Europeans and Arabs advised Israel to rein in its soldiers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but it did not listen, and it received a shocking response."
"The leaders of the occupation talked about restoring deterrence after a month of Ramadan, and we assure them that the resistance is on the lookout for them and we will do our duty to defend our Jerusalem, our people and our people," he said.
"Stop tampering with the nuclear bomb called the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque," he said. "The reaction of our resistance in the West Bank, Gaza and southern Lebanon was like a small electric shock, but it delivered a message to the occupation," he said.
Sinwar also said that the Arab expressions of condemnation are not enough and must end Arab normalization with Israel and the closure of embassies and support the resistance of the Palestinian people, stressing that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is exposed to a religious war and worshipers are humiliated while trying to reach the mosque," and said, "We appeal to scholars to come to confront what is exposed to Al-Aqsa."
He stressed that the resistance has made "great strides on the road to the readiness of the Jerusalem axis to defend the honor of the nation," and said that "the leadership of the resistance and the Jerusalem axis will intervene to support and protect those stationed at Al-Aqsa Mosque and will not hesitate to do so."
Gaza march to mark Jerusalem Day
On Friday afternoon, hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza City marched to mark International Quds Day and reject the Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
A number of leaders and representatives of Palestinian factions participated in the march, most notably Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
In a speech on behalf of the Palestinian factions during the march, Louay al-Qaryouti, a leader in the Popular Front-General Command, said that "the battle of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque is the battle of the Arab and Islamic nation, and the resistance is always present to defend Al-Aqsa."
He added that the aim of the International Quds Day is to preserve the revival of the Palestinian cause, which is subject to liquidation.
On the other hand, Qaryouti called for "rebuilding the internal Palestinian house and uniting efforts to achieve reconciliation based on true partnership."
"What we are currently experiencing from the beginning of the formation of a multipolar world requires us to put aside our differences in the service of our people, and to work to employ these transformations in the service of our cause and the restoration of our full rights," he said.
The city of Jerusalem has been witnessing tension for days, after the Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque on April 5, and assaulted worshipers there with beatings, stun grenades and tear gas, and prevented them from retreating there.
Repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa have led to tension and clashes across the Palestinian territories and Arab areas of Israel, in addition to rocket fire from Lebanon, Gaza and Syria.
Dozens Injured, Arrested in the West Bank
Earlier on Friday, dozens of Palestinians were injured and suffocated by tear gas as a result of the Israeli occupation dispersing marches condemning settlements in the northern West Bank.
Marches condemning the settlements took place in the towns of Beit Dajan, Beita and Qaryut in Nablus governorate and Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya governorate, and participants in the protests set fire to damaged tires, and denounced Israeli settlements and violations.
Various areas of the West Bank witness weekly activities rejecting settlements on the lines of contact with the Israeli army, which disperses and pursues demonstrators inside their towns.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its teams dealt with dozens of suffocation injuries due to tear gas inhalation in Beit Dajan, Beita and Qaryut in Nablus governorate.
Murad Shteiwi, coordinator of the Popular Resistance Committees in Kafr Qaddum, said that three youths were wounded by metal bullets during the army's suppression of the weekly anti-settlement march in the town.
In the same context, the Israeli occupation forces arrested today 17 Palestinians inside the Old City of Jerusalem under the pretext of "raising the flags of hostile Palestinian organizations". Israeli police said in a statement that they had transferred "the detainees to interrogation."
According to data from the Israeli human rights movement Peace Now, there are about 666,145 settlers, 140 settlements and <> informal settlement outposts (not licensed by the Government of Israel) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.