Hamas urged Palestinians to protest on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque amid war with the Israeli army.
Gaza City:
Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants on Friday called on Palestinians to rise up in protest against the Israeli bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes and artillery fire in retaliation for this week’s Hamas rampage in Israel, which killed at least 1,300 people, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.
The violence in Gaza has reignited tensions in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, where Israeli forces have killed at least 34 Palestinians in clashes since Saturday’s Hamas attack, Palestinian officials said.
In a statement calling for a “general mobilization,” Hamas called on Palestinians to protest on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque – one of the most unstable holy sites in the Middle East – and spend the entire Friday there when Muslims hold great weekly prayers.
The complex is the third holiest side in Islam, after Mecca and Medina, and the holiest side for the Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. Clashes at the compound helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza in May 2021.
Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to “demonstrate, mobilize and clash” with Israeli forces and settlers.
The Israeli army, which has also exchanged blows with militants across its northern border in Syria and Lebanon in recent days, had no immediate comment.
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