Iran condemns Israel’s attacks on Gaza, desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque

Iran has condemned the recent Israeli regime’s attacks on the defenseless Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and acts of aggression against the al-Aqsa Mosque as well as Tel Aviv’s plan to Judaize the Palestinian city of Jerusalem al-Quds.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said on Tuesday that such moves reveal the aggressive nature of the occupying Israeli regime and its desperation in the face of the laudable steadfastness of the Palestinian people and resistance groups.

He called for an international measure to stop Israel’s ceaseless desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque through excavations around and under its compound as well as the regime’s Judaization plan for Jerusalem al-Quds.

The Iranian spokesperson said the approach by certain governments to normalize relations with the occupying Zionists shows that they are turning a blind eye to the Israeli regime’s repeated crimes against the Palestinian people.

Qasemi urged the leaders of Muslim countries to remain vigilant and shoulder more responsibility vis-à-vis the cause of the Palestinian people.

On Sunday, Israeli forces launched airstrikes and artillery fire on the Palestinian towns of Beit Hanun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalia, just hours after several Palestinians were wounded in attacks in the northern Gaza Strip.

Several people were injured in the attacks which also damaged the Palestinian cities’ infrastructure.  

Israel claimed the attacks were launched in response to a rocket fired from Gaza which fell in the city of Sderot.

In early July 2014, Tel Aviv waged a war on the Gaza Strip. The 50-day military aggression, which ended on August 26, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including over 570 children. Over 11,100 others were also wounded in the war. Israel continues to carry out attacks on the Palestinian enclave from time to time.

Gaza has been blockaded since 2007 and Israel denies about 1.8 million people in the besieged territory their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, proper jobs, and adequate healthcare and education.

Meanwhile, at least five Palestinians sustained injuries in clashes with Israeli military forces in the central part of the occupied West Bank early on Tuesday.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli soldiers raided a number of houses in the city of Bethlehem, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Jerusalem al-Quds, to arrest several Palestinian men, Arabic-language al-Aqsa television network reported.

Scuffles erupted when several Palestinian youths hurled stones at Israeli troopers, who fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas canisters and stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Five people, including a woman and her little daughter, were injured during the clashes.

Separately, Israeli military forces carried out overnight raids against several Palestinian houses across the West Bank and detained at least 15 people.

The occupied territories have been the scene of heightened tensions since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in an alleged bid to change the status quo of the Muslim site.

More than 230 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in what is regarded as the third Palestinian Intifada (uprising) since the beginning of last October.

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