News / Palestine

Hamas-affiliated battalion fires rocket toward Israeli settlement near Jenin

Thursday, 27 July 2023 8:35 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 27 July 2023 10:16 AM ]

Members of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas resistance group, display homemade Qassam rockets during a military parade in the Gaza Strip.

A battalion affiliated with the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says it has fired a rocket toward an Israeli settlement in the vicinity of the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

In a statement released on Thursday, the al-Ayyash battalion, which is affiliated with the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it had targeted the Ram-On settlement with a Qassam-1 rocket.

It said that the operation was in response to Israeli crimes, including raids by settlers on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of al-Quds.

“Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line and we will never allow the Zionists to violate it,” it added.

Israeli settler incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque and violence against Palestinians have been on the rise since the far-right extremist cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last December.

Earlier on Thursday, hundreds of Israeli settlers, including far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi gate.

The settlers were escorted by occupation troops, who prevented Muslim worshipers from entering the holy site.

Israeli occupation forces prevent Palestinian worshipers from entering Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque while allowing hundreds of colonial Israeli settlers to break into the holy site, this morning, to mark the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av. pic.twitter.com/il2CUSdAd4
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 27, 2023

Only Muslims are allowed to pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under a status quo arrangement originally reached more than a century ago. Non-Muslim visitors are allowed visits at certain times and only to certain areas.

Israeli settlers' repeated storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound comes amid the regime's attacks against Palestinians in different parts of the occupied territories, particularly against Nablus and the nearby city of Jenin.

On July 3-4, the Tel Aviv regime also waged an aerial and ground offensive against Jenin and its refugee camp. At least 12 Palestinians were killed and 140 others injured during the aggression.

Israeli forces raid Palestinian camp in al-Quds

In another development on Thursday, Israeli forces stormed the Palestinian Shu'fat refugee camp in al-Quds.

Citing local sources, WAFA news agency reported that the regime soldiers, along with Israel Tax Authority staff, broke into a number of shops in the camp.

Israeli forces usually break into Palestinian shops in the camp and impose tax on their owners.

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