NEW YORK, Apr 09 (APP): Hundreds of people staged a rally in New York City to protest against the Israeli regime’s latest attack against the Palestinians praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
The crowd gathered in New York’s iconic Times Square, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans such as “Free Palestine” to condemn the violent raid and demand an end to Israeli attacks.
The protesters criticized the silence of international bodies against Israel’s crimes and demanded an end to its attacks on Palestinians. They also called for global support for the oppressed people of Palestine.
The protesters carried placards reading “Defend masjid Al-Aqsa” and “Hands off al-Aqsa,” and chanted slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Resistance is justified when people are colonized,” and “There is only one solution; Intifada (uprising) revolution.”
Heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound on Tuesday night before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall, where hundreds of men, women, elderly people, and children were staying overnight to pray. Some eyewitnesses said rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired.
Israeli forces have wounded and rounded up hundreds of Palestinians during the attacks that have seen a rise since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramazan. Illegal Israeli settlers have, meanwhile, been freely violating the compound under the Israeli military and police force’s protection.
Palestinian resistance movements in the nearby Gaza Strip have been warning the regime that it would have to bear the consequences of the flare-up that it has brought about in al-Quds and beyond.
Pakistan was among the countries that strongly condemned the raids on the sacred mosque.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement blamed “impunity granted to Israel”, which has “emboldened Tel Aviv to violate basic human rights [of Palestinians] with abundance”.
“I strongly condemn the Israeli police attack on Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound in Jerusalem. The brutal attack is violative of the sanctity of (the) holy month of Ramazan,” PM Sharif said in a tweet.
Since the start of the holy month, the Israeli regime has imposed strict restrictions on the entry and exit of Palestinians to and from the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque. Amid heightened tensions with Palestinian worshipers, Israeli settlers also press ahead with their frequent incursions and provocative rituals at the holy site.
On Thursday, at least 30 rockets were reportedly launched from southern Lebanon into the Israeli-occupied territories in retaliation against the Israeli aggression against al-Aqsa.
Resistance fighters based in Gaza also fired several rockets toward the occupied territories. Palestinian sources said the regime’s Iron Dome failed to intercept most of the retaliatory rockets.
Following the rocket attack, Israeli warplanes hit targets inside Gaza and positions of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Lebanon. The Israeli regime has in recent months stepped up its atrocities, killing around 100 Palestinians this year alone.