Hamas: Palestinians Will Keep Defending Al-Aqsa In Face of The Enemy’s ’Religious War’

By Staff, Agencies

Reacting to a threat-riddled speech by the Zionist Prime Minister, Hamas resistance movement said Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks will not weaken the Palestinians' resolve to defend the Aqsa Mosque against the occupying regime's aggression.

"Netanyahu’s speech cannot frighten our Palestinian people," Hamas Spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Monday, adding that Palestinians "will continue the battle to defend the identity of al-Aqsa Mosque in the face of the religious war waged by the enemy."

The movement’s stance came as the Tel Aviv regime has been dangerously stoking tensions throughout the occupied territories and beyond since Wednesday, when it carried out a savage attack on Palestinian worshipers, who were observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site.

The first bout of the raids saw the regime's forces storming the compound, beating the Palestinian worshipers there before arresting and forcing out hundreds of them. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded as a result of the violence.

The raids prompted several rounds of retaliatory rocket strikes against the occupied territories from the direction of the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is headquartered, as well as from Lebanon and Syria.

During his Monday speech, Netanyahu admitted that the regime has responded to retaliatory strikes by dropping "50 tons of bombs" on ground targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

He also accused Hamas of being behind the reprisal attacks that targeted the occupied territories from Lebanon, saying, "We will not allow" Hamas "to establish itself in Lebanon" by acting on "all fronts."

Netanyahu also claimed that the regime had thwarted "hundreds of operations" in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year, alleging that the regime could reach the resistance everywhere.

Responding to he Zionist premier’s claims, Qassem described his speech as an attempt to falsify the facts, saying that the ‘Israeli’ occupation was "the basis of all tensions" across the occupied territories.

The occupiers are the ones "who practice terrorism systematically and continuously," the Hamas' official said, pointing out that the Palestinian people are waging a legitimate battle to restore their right to freedom and independence.

He added that "Netanyahu’s threats against our Palestinian people, Syria, Lebanon and Iran prove that the occupying regime is a menace to the entire region and its interests."