Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniya said on Tuesday that he spoke to a number of officials in the Middle East since Israel's crackdown on Jerusalem began, stating that he told them that "we will not give up on Jerusalem and resistance." In a televised speech, Haniya said "Gaza cannot remain passive, and - by what we did - we sent a message to the Israeli occupation that it should stop messing up with Jerusalem." Haniya said that a "new power now exists in Al-Aqsa arenas and Jerusalem", believing that the Palestinians are stressing political and religious unity in each part of the Palestinians lands. During the past couple of days, the Gazan factions launched rocket attacks towards Israel in response to the latter's crackdown on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank. In addition to ongoing acts of violence committed by both Israeli settlers and forces agaisnt the Palestinians, which recently resulted in the injury of hundreds, Israel plans to evict several Palestinians families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. Israeli settlers regularly storm Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, while strict limitations are imposed by Israeli security forces on the Palestinians who wish to enter it.
