“All Israeli cities will be targeted by our missiles if the flag parade passes through Nablus Gate,” threatens Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
The Hamas terror group released a statement on Sunday morning warning that it will fire rockets on Israel cities should a flag parade take place next week in Jerusalem.
The annual event, which celebrates the 1967 liberation of Jerusalem from Jordanian annexation, sees people parade through the streets of Israel’s capital city while holding Israeli flags.
Some Arab and left-wing advocates say that the march is unnecessarily provocative and offensive to those who do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
Organizers of next week’s march are also planning to ascend to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, during the event.
“I warn the enemy against committing such crimes and these steps,” said Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in a statement.
“Our Palestinian people and their resistance in Jerusalem and the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] do not and will not accept the occurrence of this Talmudic Jewish nonsense.”
Haniyeh referenced the May 2021 Guardian of the Walls clash, during which Gaza-based terror groups launched thousands of missiles at Israeli cities and towns, intentionally targeting civilians.
“All Israeli cities will be targeted by our missiles if the flag parade passes through Nablus Gate,” he said.
The terror leader said that Hamas was ready for a repeat of last year’s rocket attacks should Israelis march with flags through Arab areas in the Old City, including Damascus Gate, and ascend to the Temple Mount.
“Our decision is clear and there is no hesitation in it, and we will never allow the erosion of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the arrogance in the streets of Jerusalem,” he added.
“I call on our Palestinian people to be fully prepared to guard Al-Aqsa and not to allow a riot (of Jews) inside the al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Left-wing Israeli government ministers from the Meretz party urged Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to make changes to the flag parade’s route during a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning.
Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej asked Bennett why the march had to pass through Damascus gate. Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg asserted that the event is “a provocative act intended solely for political purposes.”
Bennett responded that the march will proceed as usual on its usual route through the Old City and Damascus Gate.
The march is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 29th.