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Hamas does not rule out a belligerent response to the controversial Jerusalem Flag March, a senior representative of the Palestinian terrorist group in Lebanon said on Tuesday.
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"Crossing any red lines means the resistance will have its say. If the occupation thinks that through its aggression on Gaza, it has closed the door to prevent further confrontation to ensure the Flag March [takes place], then it is mistaken," said Osama Hamdan, referring to Israel’s latest five-day military campaign against Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem sounded much less belligerent after the movement decided to largely sit out last week’s hostilities.
"The so-called Zionist Flag March is one of the tools of the religious war the Zionist entity conducts against the identity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian-Arab identity of the occupied city of Jerusalem,” Qassem said.
“The Zionist settler is a strange emergency that has no place here. The Palestinian people will continue its legitimate struggle for the identity of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. The battle for the Muslim and Christian holy sites continues."
The Islamic Jihad threatened that “the resistance will be prepared for the Flag March and will not allow any aggression."
Meanwhile, the Palestinians have issued calls on social media for people residing in the West Bank and Jerusalem to go to Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent Jews from ascending the Temple Mount on Jerusalem Day and letting the Flag March pass through the capital’s Muslim quarter.
The Flag March, also known as the "Flag Dance," takes place every year on Jerusalem Day to celebrate the reunification of the city in the 1967 Six-Day War. The parade is associated with the religious Zionist movement, and each year it is also exploited by extremist elements to spread racist messages and provoke clashes with Arab residents.
In East Jerusalem, the parade is seen as a provocation and an insult to the Arab population, and terrorist organizations exploit this situation to escalate tensions.