Hamas Calls for Concerted Efforts to Protect Al-Aqsa Mosque

Gaza, MINA – Head of Hamas’s Jerusalem Affairs Office, Haroun Nasiruddin on Tuesday called for intensifying efforts to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and confront the escalation of incursions by Jewish settlers.

Nasiruddin warned that settler aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque, specially during the Jewish holidays, aims to impose a fait accompli at the Islamic holy site as part of an Israeli plan to Judaise it and fully control it, Middle East Monitor reports.

He pointed out that the Jewish holidays season represents critical periods for Al-Aqsa Mosque when settlers “increase their provocative religious practices in the mosque’s courtyards during these occasions as a prelude to making their rituals routine.”

He urged Muslim worshippers to intensify their presence at the mosque at all times, stressing that the Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and in Israel have a pivotal role in protecting the Muslim holy site and other Palestinian areas against desecration and Judaisation.

Nearly 2,000 extremist Jewish settlers desecrated Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem yesterday to mark the fifth day of the Sukkot holiday.

The Islamic Awqaf Administration in the holy city said that 1,780 settlers defiled Al-Aqsa Mosque in different groups under police escort in the morning and later in the afternoon. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)