Hamas calls for global action on repeated Israeli intrusions into Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called on the international community to assume its responsibility and take effective steps to stop repeated intrusions by Israeli settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In a statement released on Sunday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that repeated attacks by the hawkish Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Al-Aqsa “reflect the real intention of the occupying regime to impose a temporal and spatial division of this holy site.”

He urged the international community to “assume its responsibilities” regarding the blatant violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds.

Qassem further called on world states and international organizations “to exert pressure to force the occupying regime to stop the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its Judaization plans” across occupied al-Quds.

Elsewhere in the statement, the Hamas spokesman described the repeated attacks as “a clear violation of Islamic sanctities, incitement to the feelings of the Islamic nations, and an unprecedented disregard for the official and popular positions of Arab countries.”

In the latest incident, Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East al-Quds’ Old City on Sunday — his third incursion into Islam’s third holiest site this year.

Accompanied by Israeli settlers and under heavy protection from Israeli forces, he offered Jewish prayers at the site, which is not permitted for non-Muslims under the longstanding status quo arrangement in place since 1967.

Ben-Gvir, who has stormed the mosque compound at least 16 times since taking office in 2022, is part of a growing settler movement that seeks to take over Al-Aqsa.

The far-right minister has openly expressed his intention to build a Jewish synagogue in place of the holy Muslim site.

Israeli forces attack Christian worshipers during Holy Saturday in occupied al-Quds

Israeli forces attack Christian worshipers in occupied al-Quds during Holy Saturday, one of the most important Christian holidays marking the final day before Easter.

“Today, I feel like the owner here,” Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] to do more and more.”

The Palestinian Authority’s presidency also condemned the storming of the mosque compound, which has become increasingly frequent in recent years.

In a statement, the presidency described the move as a blatant violation of the historical and legal status quo at the holy site.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit a violation of the status quo agreement, calling it “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation.”

Israel had closed Al-Aqsa Mosque to Palestinians for 40 days following the regime’s unprovoked and illegitimate aggression against Iran on February 28, launched alongside the United States.

Israel routinely imposes restrictions on the mosque, particularly targeting Palestinian worshippers. This year, Israeli authorities prevented Eid al-Fitr prayers at Al-Aqsa — the first such ban since Israel’s illegal occupation of East al-Quds in 1967.

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