Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement of Hamas has slammed Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday morning despite warnings of escalation.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said the “crime of the fascist Zionist Ben-Gvir in breaking into Al-Aqsa Mosque is a continuation of the Zionist occupation’s aggression against our sanctity and our Arab identity.”
“The Palestinian people will continue to defend the sanctity of Al-Aqsa and to fight to cleanse it from the impurities of the occupation, and this battle will not stop until the final victory of our nation in expelling the occupier from all our lands,” he added.
Earlier today, Ben-Gvir broke into the holy site amid tight security measures. The break-in lasted for about 15 minutes, local sources reported.
He requested to break into the site on Monday claiming that the visit was intended to mark the fast of the Tenth of Tevet.
On Sunday, Ben-Gvir said he would visit the holy site in the near future. New Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly spoke with Ben-Gvir on Monday to discuss his intention to visit the site. The Likud confirmed that, following consultations with security establishment officials, Netanyahu did not object to Ben-Gvir’s break-in.
In response to Ben-Gvir’s Sunday remarks, Hamas warned that such a step will explode the situation.
“Any escalation in Al-Aqsa Mosque will explode the situation and the occupation government will be responsible for this,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement published Monday.
He added that the planned visit was “another example of the arrogance of the settler government and their future plans to damage and divide Al-Aqsa mosque”.
“The Palestinian resistance will not allow the neo-fascist occupation government to cross the red lines and encroach on our people and our sanctities.”
According to a report by the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news channel, Hamas “won’t sit idly by” if Ben-Gvir goes to the site, violating an agreement banning non-Muslims from entering the site without permission.
Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid had warned that such a visit by Ben-Gvir would spark violence.
Following his break-in, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry also said Tuesday it “strongly condemns the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir and views it as unprecedented provocation and a dangerous escalation of the conflict.”
Ben-Gvir’s last storming of the holy site took place last March and lasted about fifteen minutes.
Since 2014, stormings by Israeli occupation officials to the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been considered provocations and a threat to the status quo. Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s storming to the site in 2000 sparked the Second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.
Ben-Gvir was sworn in last week as part of a new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.