The leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, warned today that the nationalist Jewish movement in the Palestinian sector of occupied Jerusalem was going to use “all means” to stop them.
The controversial “flags” march is scheduled for next Sunday, on the occasion of “Jerusalem Day”, the anniversary of the “reunification” of the city for the Israelis. For the Palestinians, it is the day of the annexation, in 1967, of East Jerusalem by Israel, which is considered illegal under international law.
The Israeli authorities have given a first approval to the route that the participants will follow to reach the Wall of Tears. They are allowed to enter the Old City through the Damascus Gate, which leads to the Muslim Quarter, where the Temple Square is located, the third holiest site for Muslims and the holiest site for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. However, participants are not allowed to enter the Mosque Square where the Al Aqsa Mosque is located.
Haniyeh denounced “calls for an invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the organization of a march” the following Sunday. “I warn the enemy not to commit such crimes. “We will stop them by any means and we will never allow the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be violated,” he added.
The remarks came on the occasion of the first anniversary of the second war between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. More than 70 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces during a funeral in Jerusalem last week, according to Palestinian doctors. Israeli police said “violent riots” threatened the lives of Israeli officers.
Clashes erupted a few days earlier during the funeral of journalist Sirin Abu Akleh, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jenin, West Bank.
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