GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime’s demolition of Al-Yusufiya cemetery in the occupied city of Al-Quds is a “heinous crime,” Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says.
“What is happening in Al-Yusufiya cemetery is a heinous crime that is part of a series of crimes against Al-Quds’ cemeteries,” Hamas spokesman Mohammed Hamadeh said in a statement, describing the move as “blatant proof of the brutality of the occupation which has extended its attacks on Palestinians who are alive and dead.”
Hamadeh called on the residents of Al-Quds to “rise up in the face of the occupation’s increasing incursion against Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque.” “You should all gather at the cemetery to confront the bulldozing, and to deter the occupation from continuing its crime,” he stressed.
The occupying regime restarted on Monday bulldozing works in Al-Yusufiya Cemetery, adjacent to the walls of the Old City of Al-Quds despite protests by Palestinian residents.
The municipality seeks to turn the cemetery into a park and paths as part of its plan to build multiple Talmudic parks and trails for settlers and tourists around the walls of the Old City.
Palestinian Muslim Scholars Association on Monday condemned the regime’s razing of the cemetery.
In a statement, the association said the regime authorities did not respect the feelings of Muslims by “Judaizing” their graves and such an act will lead to an escalation in the face of the Zionist regime.
The association urged Muslim scholars in the Arab and Islamic world to intensify their efforts to raise awareness on “Judaization” attempts in Al-Quds.
The head of the Committee for the Preservation of Islamic cemeteries in Al-Quds, Mustafa Abu Zahra, told Anadolu Agency that the occupying regime’s municipal crews bulldozed part of the cemetery land.
He added that the regime authorities seek to change and convert part of the cemetery into biblical gardens.