DOHA: The leader of the Palestinian group Hamas yesterday called on Muslims to defend Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, saying Israel was trying to seize the site.
Khaled Meshaal said: “We call on all our people inside the country to hurry up to Al Aqsa to defend it.”
Palestinians, fearing Israel planned to restrict access to the site for Muslims, clashed with Israeli police earlier this week.
Meshaal said the Israeli government was taking advantage of Arab preoccupation with regional turmoil, particularly in Syria and Iraq, to try to take over Al Aqsa.
“We call on the nation to be angry and send a message of painful anger to the world that the Palestinian people, the Arab and Muslim nation, will not be silent at the Israeli crime,” he said.
Asked if he was worried his call may lead to a new conflict in the Gaza Strip, Meshaal said: “Nobody wants a war, but it’s our right to resist and preserve our rights. We are under occupation ... We have been resisting for one hundred years and will continue.
“Al Aqsa is worth us becoming martyrs for, and anyone who can carry a weapon in the region should go and defend it, as this is the true meaning of jihad.”
Reuters
