Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants called on Palestinians
to rise up in protest at Israel’s bombardment of the enclave, urging
Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli
troops in the occupied West Bank on Friday.
Israel has been pounding Gaza with air strikes and
artillery fire in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in Israel this week that has
killed at least 1,300 people, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli
history. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.
The Gaza violence has reignited tensions in East
Jerusalem and in the West Bank, where Israeli troops have killed at least 34
Palestinians during clashes since the Saturday Hamas attack, according to
Palestinian officials.
In a statement calling for a “general mobilization,”
Hamas urged Palestinians to protest in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – one of the
Middle East’s most volatile holy sites – and stay there throughout Friday, when
Muslims hold large weekly prayers.
The compound is Islam’s third holiest side after Mecca
and Medina and the most sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
Clashes at the compound helped set off an 11-day Israel-Gaza war in May 2021.
Hamas urged Palestinians in the West Bank to “demonstrate,
mobilize and clash” with Israeli troops and settlers.
Israel’s military, which has also traded blows in
recent days with militants over its northern border in Syria and Lebanon, had
no immediate comment.
Reuters
