Hamas, Islamic Jihad call for intensified resistance in occupied territories

Leaders of resistance movements have called on the Palestinian people in the occupied territories to step up their resistance against Israel, as the Tel Aviv regime continues its acts of aggression against Palestinians.  

Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the secretary general of the Islamic Jihad movement, and deputy head of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas' political bureau, made the appeal during a meeting in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Wednesday, where they  discussed the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians, their land and holy sites.

In a joint statement, the two sides stressed the need to confront the Israeli aggression in al-Quds, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Palestinian occupied territories in 1948, and to escalate the resistance against the occupation.

The two leading Palestinian resistance groups further emphasized the readiness of resistance forces to defend al-Aqsa Mosque and the residents of East al-Quds as they did during the war between Israel and Hamas in May last year, when they launched the battle of Saif al-Quds (Operation al-Quds Sword) in retaliation for Tel Aviv's acts of aggression against Palestinians in the holy city.

“The priority at this stage of national liberation requires working to unify the resistance forces and escalate the confrontation with the Israeli occupation and force it to retreat from all Palestinian soil,” the statement read.

The call came amid mounting tensions between the Palestinians and Israel in the occupied territories.

Dozens of Palestinians hurt in confrontations with Israeli forces in northern West Bank

Dozens of Palestinians have been injured after confrontations broke out between Israeli forces and a group of protesters in the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces shot three Palestinians dead, including a teenager, in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and in the Naqab (Negev) desert.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad has warned that Israeli settlers are planning to storm al-Aqsa Mosque in the coming days, calling on Palestinians to converge on the holy site to “thwart” the planned incursions.

The movement's spokesperson Tareq Ezz al-Din warned of the “serious consequences of the escalating calls of the settler groups to storm and desecrate the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque.”

He held Israel and its leaders fully responsible “for this dangerous escalation, and for providing cover for these provocative attempts by the settlers.”

The Islamic Jihad official called on the Palestinians to head to al-Aqsa Mosque to protect it against the settlers’ “incursions and desecration.”

Hamas warns of ‘dire consequences’ if Israeli settlers defile al-Aqsa during Jewish festival

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned of dire consequences if Israeli settlers defile al-Aqsa Mosque during an upcoming Jewish festival.

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 Israeli regime, during which the regime killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967.

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