Hamas urges mobilization amid Israeli violations

The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas in Jerusalem al-Quds has stressed that the battle in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds is ongoing, urging the resistance forces in the Gaza Strip to mobilize to confront the Israeli acts of aggression.

“The battle is still going on and we call on our resistance [brothers] in the Gaza Strip to sound the alarm,” Hamas said in a statement on Friday.

It referred to the acts of aggression committed by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians in Jerusalem al-Quds and a planned raid on al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, scheduled for Monday.

Hamas reiterated its support for the Palestinians who have been confronting the Israeli violations at the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds, and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Tensions have escalated in Sheikh Jarrah in recent days amid Israeli court rulings that order a number of Palestinian families to evacuate their homes there.https://if-cdn.com/S4JyahK?v=1&app=1

The group also called on Palestinian people everywhere, especially in the occupied West Bank and areas occupied by Israel since 1948, to stage a sit-in at al-Aqsa on the last nights of Ramadan until Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan next week.

It also urged the Islamic and Arab nations to mobilize all their capabilities to liberate the holy city.

Some 70,000 Palestinians performed Muslim noonday prayers at the al-Aqsa compound on Friday despite Israeli restrictions.

On Tuesday, the military wing of Hamas said Israel would “pay a heavy price” if it did not stop the aggression against Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah.

Mohammed Deif, chief of staff and commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, issued a rare and strongly-worded statement to deliver a “final” warning to the Israeli regime.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip during the Six Day War in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza but placed the enclave under siege.

Israelis attack anti-settlement protests in West Bank

Meanwhile, Israeli forces used tear gas and rubber bullets at the Palestinians taking part in a weekly anti-settlement protest in Kafr Qaddum on Friday.

Tens of the demonstrators suffered breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas.

In the village of Beit Dajan, Israeli troops attacked a similar protest.

To the south of Nablus, Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound bombs at the Palestinians who attended Friday prayers on Sobeih Mountain in the town of Beita as calls were made to gather in the area to protest against the planned expansion of an Israeli settlement.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. 

After former US President Donald Trump took office in December 2016, Israel stepped up its settlement expansion in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which pronounces settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds “a flagrant violation under international law.”

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land.

The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.