TEHRAN — In a statement issued on Saturday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) condemned the Israelis’ brutal attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The IRGC also promised to support the Palestinians who are resisting the Zionist regime’s brutality. 

The resistance demonstrated by the Palestinians heralds the emergence of a new intifada which is “a nightmare” for the Israeli regime, it added.

On Friday, hundreds of Israeli armed troops stormed Al Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds and attacked worshippers with stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber and metal bullets.

The following is part of the IRGC statement:

“The Zionist regime's new acts of aggression and crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque, which have intensified in recent days after the operations of the faithful and brave soldiers of resistance and fervent Palestinian youth, especially in the heart of the regime, show the Zionists' fear of a new intifada, and the fact that it might increase the struggle of the Palestinian people to the Palestinian youth and adolescents and to upgrade the capacities and capabilities of the anti-Zionist resistance.”

The statement added, “The desecration of the holy values of Muslims and the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, which was carried out by the Zionist regime's military and security forces by deploying military equipment and brutally attacking defenseless Palestinian worshipers… is doomed to failure and will have no effect on the heroic act and flare-up of the valiant chivalrous warriors of Intifada these days; instead it would expose the Zionists to more serious nightmares and challenges.” 

In the statement, the IRGC stressed that it is necessary that the international community respond to the tragic events in Palestine and the crimes of the Israeli occupiers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and other occupied territories.
 
“Undoubtedly, the consequences of this action and the dangerous conspiracy will befall the silent people in the Islamic countries as well as the human rights claimants in the international forums, and they will be severely punished in the public opinion of the world,” the statement added. 

The statement said the dramatic and futile action in normalizing relations with the fake Zionist regime by certain Arab countries has resulted in the Zionists' unbridled arrogance in attacking the sanctities of Muslims in occupied Palestine.

It added, “The will of the Palestinian people in a direct confrontation with the Israelis in al-Quds and the intelligent and vigilant support of the people of the region and the supporters of the liberation of al-Quds in the world, in a surprising historical event and change, will make the Zionist regime and its regional and trans-regional supporters witness new manifestations of anti-Zionist resistance.” 

“This will be a sign of the intensification of the successful movement of the Palestinian Intifada and the developments towards the end of the fake and child-killing regime and the reverse migration of the usurpers of Palestine.”

The statement ended with strong condemnation of the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the deadly silence of the international human rights bodies and leaders of some Arab countries, saying the intensification of the regime's aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque will help form a new wave of support in support of the new Palestinian intifada. 

It emphasized, “The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps - based on the eternal discourse and wills of Imam Khomeini and the strategies and guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei, one of the main and strategic supporters of the Palestinian Intifada - praises the will of all valiant chivalrous warriors on the way to al-Quds and does not hesitate to support them. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps will continue to support those who aid the Palestinian fighters, and will not allow the aspirations of the domineering regime and Zionism to de-prioritize the issue of Palestine from the Islamic world. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps will prevent the cancerous growth of Israel on the geography of Islam and the body of the Islamic Ummah.”

The outbreak of violence in al-Aqsa Mosque began when Israeli forces broke into the mosque and started firing on the worshippers, which resulted in more than 150 injuries among them. The Palestinian Red Crescent in al-Quds reported that its teams dealt with 153 injuries in the confrontations that took place inside the courtyards of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinian organization noted that a number of attacks on its crews were recorded, including impeding access to the injured, direct attacks on them, and attacking ambulances.

The Israeli troops went on the rampage and caused damage to the mosque on Friday morning. But the Israeli violence did not intimidate the Palestinian worshippers into giving up on their plan to hold Friday prayer at the mosque.

After cleaning the mosque from the wreckage caused by the Israeli troops, Palestinian worshippers rushed to the mosque for prayer. 

In addition to wreaking havoc on Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli security forces arrested more than 400 Palestinian worshippers in the holy site. 

The raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque come against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the West Bank. Just hours before the outbreak of violence at the holy mosque, a Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Palestine’s official news agency WAFA reported that 17-year-old Shawkat Kamal Abed succumbed to his injuries sustained from Israeli military gunfire in Kafr Dan town, northwest of Jenin.