Zionist forces martyr Palestinian man in al-Quds

Zionist regime forces have martyred a Palestinian man in al-Quds amid tensions over the illegal settlement expansion plans and forced expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East al-Quds.

Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli regime troops on Sunday fatally shot the 42-year-old man near the Chain Gate, one of the entrances to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Israeli police immediately closed the site to visitors following the incident.

He was later identified as Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp in East al-Quds and one of the leaders of Hamas resistance movement in the camp.

“The message of this heroic operation is a warning to the criminal enemy and its regime to stop attacks on our land and our holy sites. Israel will pay a price for the iniquities it commits against al-Aqsa Mosque, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah and elsewhere,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas spokesperson Hazim Qasim also praised the incident, calling it in line with the “legitimate struggle” of the Palestinian people.

“The holy city [of al-Quds] will continue to fight until it expels the foreign occupier, and it will not succumb to the hateful reality of the occupation,” he said.

Abdul-Latif Qanu, another Hamas spokesman, said the operation was part of a natural response to the growing Israeli crimes in occupied al-Quds.

He added that the incident underlines the continuation of the Palestinian nation's struggle against the occupying regime, and Israeli officials’ inability to snuff out the campaign.

Qanu said the Palestinian resistance against Israel will continue unabated until the desired goal of the regime’s annihilation is achieved.

SS