The Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says the recent attack on two Israeli policemen in Jerusalem’s Old City is a “qualitative achievement of Palestinian resistance.”
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The armed left-wing resistance group called the three Palestinian citizens who had waged the attack martyrs. The incident left the three dead, along with two Israeli occupation forces.
“...This operation is a breakthrough in the security cordon imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, breaking the arrogance of the Zionist security which sees in the city and in Al-Aqsa an impenetrable fortress,” the group stated.
#PFLP salutes #Jerusalem operation as qualitative achievement of Palestinian resistance#FPLP #Palestine https://t.co/QlEgsB68t4
— صوت الجبهة الشعبية (@PFLP_info) July 16, 2017
The Front added that the “heroic operation” has sent “a strong message to the occupation soldiers and the criminal Zionist government that their measures and attacks against the Palestinian people will only be met by more operations and resistance.”
In the wake of the attack, Israeli police forces closed down the Al-Aqsa mosque – the third holiest site in Islam – for the first time since 1967.
The is is #Israel.Israeli forces trampling over carpets in #Alaqsa in their boots.The Holy Sanctuary being desecrated over the last 2 days. pic.twitter.com/D10UkKpeCd
— Kamel Hawwash (@kamelhawwash) July 15, 2017
The thousands who come to the mosque every Friday for prayers were turned away, and forced to pray in the streets under the close watch of armed Israeli forces.
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Hamas also condemned Israel’s closing down of the Mosque, stating that the site had become a "religious war" against Palestinians’ places of worship.
Ma'an, the Palestinian media outlet, reported that around 60 worshipers who were at the Mosque around the time of the attack were detained and interrogated, along with 15 of the mosque's guards.
“What happened earlier is now being taken advantage of by the Israeli right to impose a new reality in Al-Aqsa mosque,” a worshiper told Al-Jazeera.