ISRAELI fanatic Jews, accompanied by Israeli police, raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Nakba Day anniversary today, reported Anadolu Agency.

The Nakba Day – or Catastrophe Day – observed on May 15 each year, marks the forced expulsion of almost 800,000 Palestinians from their homes in historical Palestine in 1948.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site for Muslims in the world. Jews, however, call the area Temple Mount and claimed it is the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, in which Al-Aqsa is located, during the Arab-Israeli war in 1967. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognised by the international community.

Palestinian group Hamas today called for “resisting” Israeli plans to build more than 4,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli authorities last week approved the construction of more than 4,000 settlement units, in a move that has drawn wide condemnations from several countries around the world.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum in a statement said the settlement plan is a “new assault” against the Palestinian people, reported Anadolu Agency.

“This affirms the colonial and racist nature of the occupying entity (Israel),” he said, calling for “resisting these colonial and settlement projects by all means”.

He also called for ending all forms of normalisation with Israel and “working to isolate the Zionist occupation and expose its policies, as well as support Palestinian steadfastness”.

The West Bank is considered occupied territory under international law, thus making all Jewish settlements there illegal. – Bernama, May 15, 2022.