“Our people must prepare for a great battle if the occupation does not stop its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Shingwar said. “The violation of Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem means a regional, religious war,” he said. Gesturing a photo behind him with Israeli police inside the Al-Aqsa mosque, Sinwar threatened to use synagogues around the world if the action was repeated. “Anyone who decides to allow this photo to be repeated, the violation of Al-Aqsa – has decided to allow the violation of thousands of synagogues around the world,” Sinwar said. Get the Times of Israel Daily E-mail and never miss our top stories By registering, you agree to the terms In his one-hour speech, Sinwar praised the recent wave of anti-Israel terrorism that left 15 dead. encouraged Palestinians in the West Bank and Arab Israelis to carry out more attacks; welcomed a “global shift” in favor of the Palestinian cause; and urged the Islamist Ra’am party to withdraw from the Israeli ruling coalition. But Sinwar, who runs Hamas’s office in Gaza and serves as the de facto governor of the enclave, devoted most of his speech to the Israeli threat of action at the Temple Mount shrine in Jerusalem, home to the Al Mosque. -Aqsa. Clashes between Palestinian unrest and Israeli forces in the group, which honors 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 the site of biblical temples and the Al Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest shrine in Islam. Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar greets 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. (Mahmud Hams / AFP) Since the May war, which Hamas dubbed “The Sword of Jerusalem,” the Gaza-based terrorist group has threatened to fire rockets at Israel if it violates the organization’s “red lines” in Jerusalem. “We drew and raised this sword to let the enemy know that al-Aqsa was not standing alone and that our nation would stand if al-Aqsa and Jerusalem were violated,” Shingwar said. Palestinians clashed repeatedly with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque last month, sparking fears that the violence could escalate again. Palestinian rioters hurled stones at police, who responded with rubber bullets, sound grenades and tear gas, injuring hundreds. Israeli police also prevented extremist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir from crossing the Old City of Jerusalem, which the terrorist group had also suggested could fire rockets. “The repercussions of this operation are only growing,” Sinwar said. Sinwar further accused Israel of seeking to split the Temple Mount as a “first step” to “destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build a temple” in its place. He cited evidence of an increase in Jewish visitors to the shrine in recent years. “Al-Aqsa is indeed in danger,” Sinwar said. Sinwar hailed what judged the changing winds of world opinion against the Jewish state. He praised the Palestinians in the diaspora, who he said had caused a shift 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 a change,” Sinwar said. The speech was Sinwar’s first major public appearance in almost a year. Last June, a senior Hamas official gave a 90-minute speech after the May war with Israel, outlining his vision for what the terrorist group had achieved. “If the conflict breaks out again, the shape of the Middle East will change. “We have proved that there are those who defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Singwar boasted at the time. Palestinians worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Mount Temple in Jerusalem during 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 Ra’am party. Raham is the political branch of the Islamic Movement, some of whose senior leaders have ties to their Hamas counterparts. Shingwar struck Raham and his party leader, Mansour Abbas, whom he called “Abu Rigal” – a legendary traitor to pre-Islamic myth. “It is an unforgivable crime to serve as a support to this government that violates al-Aqsa,” Singawar said. Raam has suspended her membership in the coalition following recent clashes between Palestinians and police in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Although tensions have not escalated further, Ra’am has not yet formally returned to government. Abbas has publicly adopted a political program that seeks to make a tangible profit for the Arab Israelis. In interviews in both Arabic and Hebrew, the Islamist said that Israel “was a Jewish state and will remain so.” “For an Arab to say that this is a Jewish state is the pinnacle of degeneration,” Sinwar said. “Are you receiving some achievements for the Arab society in exchange for the violation of Al Aqsa?” Sinwar also praised a wave of terrorist attacks that left 15 dead, the deadliest wave of violence against Israelis in years. On Friday night, two Palestinian gunmen shot and killed a security guard outside the Ariel settlement in the North West Bank. Hamas has not claimed responsibility for any of the attacks – but officials of the terrorist group have repeatedly praised them. Sinwar singled out an attack by Ra’ed Hazem, a Palestinian from Jenin that killed three Israelis in late March on a busy Tel Aviv boulevard. “If a Palestinian with a pistol can do that in the center of Tel Aviv, what could ten elite resistance fighters do?” said Singuar. Sinwar praised Hazem’s father, retired PA security officer Fathi Hazem, who gave him “the best education he has ever received in an earthquake that shook [Israel]. » Palestinian rioters throw stones at Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex above the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 15, 2022. (Jamal Awad / Flash90) “Our people in the West Bank, the youth of the West Bank, do not wait for anyone’s decision! “Individual operations have proven to be extremely successful,” Sinwar said. As for the Arabs living in Israel, he also urged them to kill Israelis: “Our people living in the occupying state – in the Negev, in [northern] “Triangle, in Haifa, in Accra, in Jaffa and in Lod – everyone who has a gun should get it, and those who do not have a gun should get a butcher or whatever knife he can get,” he said. Sinwar also criticized the United States and the international community for supporting Ukrainian refugees, but not the Palestinians. “The conscience of the people is sensitive and delicate; towards the blue-eyed refugees. “Well, our people and their cause have been going on for seventy years,” Sinwar said.
