GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned the occupying regime of dire consequences if extremist Zionist settlers desecrate the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during an upcoming Jewish festival.
In a statement, Hamas said there would be dire consequences if Zionist groups dared to desecrate the holy site during their upcoming Purim festival holiday this week.
The extremist settlers have already declared their intent to defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque on March 16 and 17 to mark the Jewish occasion under the full protection of Zionist troops.
The statement described the provocative calls for celebrating the event at the holy mosque as “a violation of all the heavenly religions and norms” and “a direct provocation to the Palestinian people and the Muslim nation.”
Hamas spokesman Mohamed Hamada also held the occupying regime fully accountable for any repercussions if it provided protection for settler break-ins at the holy compound.
The spokesman urged the Palestinian masses to organize and stage massive rallies and marches towards the mosque to protect it against settler desecration.
Separately, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the head of the Higher Islamic Council in Al-Quds, urged all the Muslim worshipers who have access to the mosque in general and the Palestinian inhabitants of Al-Quds in particular to frequent the holy site and increase their presence in its courtyards to prevent such settler break-ins.
Sabri denounced settler groups for inciting their followers to perform rituals and celebrations at the compound during the coming days, stressing that such calls provoke the Muslim nation that rejects any violation of the mosque’s sanctity.
The senior cleric accused the Zionist regime of sponsoring settler break-ins at the mosque and held it fully responsible if settlers defiled the sacred Islamic site during the Purim festival.
Hardline Zionist legislators and extremist settlers regularly storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city, a provocative move that infuriates Palestinians. Such mass settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Zionist police in Al-Quds.
Last October, a Zionist court upheld a ban on Jewish prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, after an earlier decision by a lower court stirred outrage among various Palestinians and across the Muslim world.
Back in May 2021, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupying regime, during which the regime killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.