Hamas: “Israeli” Plots Against Al-Aqsa Mosque Will Not Go Unanswered

By Staff, Agencies

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned against the recurrent incursions of extremist “Israeli” settlers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, warning that the provocative measures will not go unpunished.

The Gaza-based movement said in a statement on Tuesday that the incursions fall within the Tel Aviv regime’s failed attempts to impose spatial and temporal divisions on the holy site.

It emphasized that the Palestinian nation will continue to defend the mosque against the “Israeli” regime’s Judaization plots by all available means, adding that such schemes will be met with proper retaliatory operations.

The group praised al-Quds [Jerusalem] activists for their defense of al-Aqsa Mosque against repeated “Israeli” desecration of the holy place, calling on all Palestinians to mass mobilize and intensify their presence at the mosque.

Meanwhile, Bassem Naim, head of the Hamas international relations office, called on Arab and Muslim states to assume their responsibilities and protect al-Aqsa Mosque against the Israeli regime’s sacrilegious moves.

“The repeated Jewish settlers’ incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque provoke the feelings of Muslims around the world,” Naim said, urging the international community to stop the Israeli violations.

He underscored that Palestinians will continue defending their lands and holy sites until they are liberated from the grip of “Israeli” occupation.

Earlier in the day, dozens of extremist “Israeli” settlers once again broke into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound through the Moroccan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate, under the protection of “Israeli” forces.

Some of the settlers performed rituals and Talmudic prayers in the mosque’s courtyards, as others received lectures from rabbis about the Temple Mount during their tour of the holy site.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound sits just above the Western Wall plaza and houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to an agreement between the occupying “Israeli” regime and the Jordanian government following the regime’s illegal seizure of East al-Quds [Jerusalem] in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound is prohibited.

Many of the “Israeli” Knesset members are right-wing extremists that support the demolition of the Islamic holy site in order to build a Jewish temple instead.