Hezbollah, Palestinian factions slam settlers' desecration of mosques

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Jun 2023 22:28
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Hezbollah underlines that insulting the Holy Quran represents the highest degree of terrorism and racism.

A screenshot from a video showing illegal Israeli settlers exiting a mosque in the Palestinian village of Urif after desecrating it and ripping pages from the Holy Quran

Hezbollah condemned on Friday the desecration of mosques and the burning of the Holy Quran by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian villages of Urif and Turmus Aya as a serious criminal act that violates all human values.

In a statement, the Lebanese Resistance party underlined that insulting the Holy Quran is a condemned and rejected act that represents the highest degree of terrorism and racism and infringes on people's beliefs and worship.

Hezbollah urged Islamic and Arab governments, as well as human rights and international organizations, to condemn this criminal act and take all steps to prevent illegal Israeli settlers from carrying out similar violations.

Also reacting to the settlers' crimes, Hamas condemned the desecration of mosques and the tearing up of the Holy Quran, describing the violations as a heinous crime and a dangerous escalation of the religious war waged by Zionist institutions.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Movement also held the occupation fully responsible for the dangerous repercussions of the Zionist attack that targeted mosques and the burning and tearing up of the Quran.

On their part, other Palestinian Resistance factions said the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Urif Mosque and the ripping of the Holy Quran inside it is a continuous Zionist crime that fuels a religious war, whose consequences will be disastrous for the Israeli occupation.

In a statement, the factions underscored that this aggressive and dangerous behavior cannot be accepted by the Palestinian people.

The statement called for more solidarity in confronting Zionist extremists and their aggression on and desecration of sanctities, and escalating all means of resistance against the occupation in order to make it pay the price for its aggression.

In Egypt, the Ministry of Religious Endowments condemned the settlers' attack, deeming it the essence of terrorism, extremism, and racism.

Earlier, a group of Israeli settlers broke into a mosque in the occupied West Bank and ripped pages from the Holy Quran before throwing it into the street.

ألقوا المصاحف أرضًا.. جانب من تدنيس المستوطنين الإسرائيليين لمسجد عوريف جنوب نابلس، أمس. pic.twitter.com/EWxKd5CdCb
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 22, 2023

CCTV footage showed an Israeli settler accompanied by a dog desecrating the Holy Quran in front of a mosque in the Palestinian village of Urif south of Nablus, while a group of masked settlers were on the watch out.

The same men later broke into a school in the village and set fire to a number of its classrooms before attempting to burn down Palestinian homes and mosques in the village.

On Wednesday, one Palestinian was martyred and dozens were injured following an attack by Israeli settlers on the town of Turmus Aya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, as settlers ravaged Palestinian villages, setting homes, shops, and cars on fire.

Israeli settlers rampaged through several Palestinian towns in the West Bank on Tuesday night, torching cars, setting farmland on fire, and vandalizing homes, in scenes reminiscent of a pogrom earlier this year in the village of Huwara.

According to local sources, Palestinian youths confronted over 400 armed occupation settlers who attacked the village under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.