In a speech Saturday night full of deadly threats and denunciations of Israel, Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar said the terrorist group “will not hesitate to take any action” if Israel “violates” the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Our people must prepare for a great battle if the occupation does not end its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Sinuar said.
“Violating Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem means a regional religious war,” he said.
Showing a photo behind him to Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sinuar threatened violence against synagogues around the world if the action happened again.
“Whoever decides to allow the repetition of this photo, the violation of Al-Aqsa – he has decided to allow the violation of thousands of synagogues around the world,” said Sinuar.
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In an hour-long address, Sinuar praised the recent terrorist wave against Israelis, which left 15 dead; encouraged Palestinians in the West Bank and Arab Israelis to carry out more attacks; welcomes the ‘global change’ in favor of the Palestinian cause; and called on the Islamist party Raam to withdraw from Israel’s ruling coalition.
But Sinuar, who heads Hamas’s Gaza bureau and serves as the de facto governor of the enclave, devoted most of his speech to the Israeli threat of any action in the sacred site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. .
Clashes between Palestinian rebels and Israeli forces at the complex, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews, helped spark a war between Israel and Hamas last May. The top of the hill is the holiest site of Judaism as a site of biblical temples, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest shrine in Islam.
Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar was greeted by members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas, before a speech in Gaza City on April 30, 2022 (Mahmoud Hams / AFP)
Ever since the May war, which Hamas called the “Sword of Jerusalem,” a Gaza-based terrorist group has threatened to fire missiles at Israel if it violates the organization’s “red lines” in Jerusalem.
“We have drawn and raised this sword so that the enemy knows that Al-Aqsa is not alone and that our nation will stand if Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem are violated,” Sinuar said.
Palestinians have repeatedly clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in recent months, raising fears that violence could escalate again. Palestinian rebels hurled stones at police, who responded with rubber bullets, sonic grenades and tear gas, injuring hundreds.
Israeli police also prevented extremist MP Itamar Ben-Gwir from marching through the Old City of Jerusalem, which the terrorist group also hinted could trigger rocket fire.
“The echo of this operation is only increasing,” Sinuar said.
Sinuar also accused Israel of seeking to divide the Temple Mount as a “first step” to “destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build a temple” in its place. He cited as evidence the increase in Jewish visitors to the holy site over the past few years.
“Al-Aqsa is really in danger,” Sinuar said.
Sinuar welcomes what he believes are the changing winds of global opinion against the Jewish state. He praised the Palestinians in the diaspora, who he said had led to a change in public opinion.
“There is a global shift in favor of the Palestinian cause in many countries. “Those who follow the media and political discourse see change,” Sinuar said.
The address was Sinwar’s first major public appearance in almost a year. Last June, a high-ranking Hamas member delivered a 90-minute speech after the May war with Israel, outlining his vision of what the terrorist group has achieved.
“If the conflict erupts again, the shape of the Middle East will change. We have proved that there are those who defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque, “Sinuar boasted at the time.
Palestinian worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in the last Friday prayer of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, April 29, 2022 (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)
Weeks later, a new Israeli government was formed, this time with the support of the Islamist party Raam. Raam is the political branch of the Islamic movement, some of whose top leaders have ties to their Hamas counterparts.
Sinuar criticized Raam and his party leader, Mansour Abbas, whom he called Abu Rigal, a legendary traitor to pre-Islamic legend.
“Serving in support of this government, which violates Al-Aqsa, is an unforgivable crime,” Sinuar said.
Raam has suspended his membership in the coalition following recent clashes between Palestinians and police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Although tensions have not escalated, Raam has not yet formally joined the government.
Abbas has publicly adopted a political program that seeks to bring tangible benefits to Arab Israelis. In interviews with Arabic and Hebrew, the Islamist said Israel was “a Jewish state and will remain so.”
“To say that an Arab is a Jewish state is the height of degeneration,” Sinuar said. “Are you getting some achievements for Arab society in return for violating Al-Aqsa?”
Sinuar also praised a wave of terrorist attacks that killed 15 people, the deadliest wave of violence against Israelis in years. On Friday night, two Palestinian gunmen shot dead a security guard outside the village of Ariel in the northwest coast.
Hamas has not claimed responsibility for any of the attacks, but members of the terrorist group have repeatedly praised them. Sinuar cited the attack on Raed Hazem, a Palestinian from Jenin who killed three Israelis in late March on a busy Tel Aviv boulevard.
“If a Palestinian with a gun could do that in downtown Tel Aviv, what could ten elite resistance fighters do?” Sinuar said.
Sinuar praised Hazem’s father, retired PA security officer Fati Hazem, for giving him “the best education that caused the earthquake that shook [Israel]”
Palestinian rebels throw stones at Israeli security forces at Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on top of Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 15, 2022 (Jamal Awad / Flash90)
“Our people on the West Coast, young people on the West Coast, don’t wait for someone’s decision! The individual actions have proven to be extremely successful, “Sinuar said.
As for the Arabs living in Israel, he also called on them to kill Israelis: “Our people living in the occupying state – in the Negev, in [northern] Triangle, in Haifa, in Acre, in Jaffa and in Lod – everyone who has a weapon must take it, and those who do not have a weapon must take a butcher’s knife or any knife he can take. ” he said.
Sinuar also criticized the United States and the international community for supporting Ukrainian refugees, but not Palestinians.
“The conscience of the world is sensitive and delicate … in the face of blue-eyed refugees. “Well, our people and their cause have been around for seventy years,” Sinuar said.
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