Hamas urges Arab-Islamic summit to assume responsibility for occupied Jerusalem

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas has demanded that the next week’s joint Arab-Islamic follow-up summit take responsibility for the occupied city of Jerusalem, which is undergoing a “systematic Israeli Judaization campaign.”

“It is time for the Islamic nations to fulfill their religious and political duties towards the holy city, which is facing an extensive ‘Judaization’ campaign by the Israeli occupying government,” Hamas political bureau member Haroun Nasser al-Din said in a statement.

On October 30, Saudi Arabia called for a joint Arab-Islamic follow-up summit in its capital Riyadh on November 11 to address the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

The official emphasized that Islamic countries “possess the necessary resources to exert pressure on global powers to curb Israel’s occupation and halt its crimes against the Palestinian people and Islamic sanctities.”

He also stressed the importance of “implementing the resolutions from previous Islamic summits,” which rejected any changes to the status of Jerusalem and the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

Underlining the escalating attacks by illegal Israeli settlers on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and demolitions in Jerusalem, particularly in the Silwan neighborhood, he said the Israeli occupation continues to assert full control over the holy city.

Israel has continued a devastating genocidal offensive on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, killing over 43,500 Palestinians and rendering the enclave almost uninhabitable.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes in the blockaded enclave.