GAZA CITY (Anadolu) – Palestinian resistance movement Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday warned the Zionist regime against allowing a so-called flag march by settlers in occupied East Al-Quds.
On Wednesday, the occupying regime’s public security Minister Omer Barlev and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai approved the march to pass through Al-Quds’ Old City.
“We follow the threats of storming Al-Aqsa complex and we warn the enemy against taking such moves,” Haniyeh said in a televised speech marking the first anniversary of an 11-day Zionist offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh said Hamas “will not allow any desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque or settler arrogance in Al-Quds.”
The Hamas leader called on the Palestinians “to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent settlers from moving ahead with their plans” against the mosque.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims.
On Saturday, hundreds of Palestinian mourners attended the funeral of a 17-year-old Palestinian youth martyred by Zionist troops during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Tensions are rising in the occupied territories fueled by the regime’s army incursions, arrests and arbitrary killings.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Zionist troops stormed Haifa Street early on Saturday, setting off a gun battle with local residents.
“A 17-year-old boy was killed, and an 18-year-old was critically wounded by the Israeli occupation’s bullets during its aggression on Jenin,” a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The ministry identified the slain Palestinian teen as Amjad al-Fayed.
Meanwhile, an international children rights organization said Zionist troops used a female Palestinian teenage girl to shield themselves from incoming bullets during a last week raid in the northern part of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin,.
Defense for Children International (DCI) recounted the development involving Ahed Mohammad Rida Mereb, 16, in gruesome detail, Palestinian Wafa news agency reported on Saturday, citing a report by the rights organization.
According to the organization’s Palestine offshoot (DCIP), the incident happened when the forces raided Ahed’s house in the city of Jenin to arrest her 20-year-old brother.
Zionist troops besieged Ahed’s home around 6 a.m. on May 13 in order to arrest her 20-year-old brother, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
“International law is explicit and absolutely prohibits the use of children as human shields by armed forces or armed groups,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at the DCIP, adding, “Israeli forces intentionally putting a child in grave danger in order to shield themselves constitutes a war crime.”