Israel to See No Calm If Measures against Al-Quds Continue: Hamas
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – If the Israeli regime continues its hostile measures against the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds, it will see no calm, Hamas warned.
“If the Zionist enemy continues this hostile policy against al-Quds, there will be no calm,” Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement, said in a virtual meeting on Sunday, according to Hamas’s official website.
On Thursday, more than 100 Palestinians were wounded and 50 more arrested in Israeli police and settler violence in Jerusalem al-Quds. Haniyeh’s remarks came as Israeli forces continued their aggressive actions against Palestinians on Sunday.
Haniyeh said the ongoing Palestinian response to the Israeli aggression in Jerusalem al-Quds comes “in the context of the battle over the identity of the holy city.”
The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should stand steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation forces, he said, adding the current situation in Jerusalem al-Quds proved that Israel has failed to achieve any of its plans regarding the historic city.
On the upcoming Palestinian elections, Haniyeh said Hamas will never pass on the opportunity, stressing the necessity of holding the elections in Jerusalem al-Quds, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
“The Palestinian election in al-Quds has started very early,” he said, referring to the Palestinians who took to the streets to defend the city against the Israeli aggression.
Khaled Meshaal, a former head of the political bureau of Hamas, said the Palestinian people in Jerusalem al-Quds will foil all Israeli plots in the city, as they have done on many occasions in the past few years.
In an interview with al-Aqsa TV channel on Sunday, Meshaal said Palestinians are going through a fierce battle against the Israeli occupation forces.
“It is a big battle aimed at Judaizing and controlling al-Quds and a plan to divide al-Aqsa Mosque spatially and timely,” he said, hailing the Palestinian defenders of the holy mosque for standing steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation forces.
Meshaal reiterated Hamas’s support for the Palestinian elections, saying the polls are part of national endeavors to achieve unity.
He also dismissed the possibility of postponing the elections, saying Palestinian factions will remove all obstacles so that the vote will be held on its due date.
The remarks came as Palestinian sources reported that clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians had continued near al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday night and into Monday morning, after reports emerged that Israeli forces had briefly removed the barriers outside the Damascus Gate.
According to al-Quds al-Arabi, at least three Palestinians were arrested and a few others were injured in the course of the Israeli attacks.
