TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Sunday strongly lambasted the Israeli illegal settlements and desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the holy city of Al-Quds.

Hailing the Palestinian people's steadfastness and struggle as well as "Al-Quds defenders," the spokesman warned the Zionist regime against “new adventurism and provocative measures.”

Earlier on Sunday, tens of thousands of Israeli settlers held their annual "March of the Flags" event, waving Israeli flags and screaming offensive slogans into the middle of the major Palestinian avenue in East Al-Quds' Old City.

Although there is an existing agreement prohibiting non-Muslim prayers on the site, the Israelis pushed their way inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque's enclosure, where they performed religious rites under the protection of the regime's military.

The event marks Israel’s 1967 takeover of East Al-Quds, which the Palestinians want as their future capital. According to Israeli NGO Ir Amim, the march is linked to violence against Palestinians and a "display of incitement, Jewish dominance, and racism."

Khatibzadeh said the liberation of Al-Quds from the Israeli occupation and violence is the Muslim world's top priority.

“All of the world’s freedom-seeking people, especially the Muslim people and countries, are duty-bound to act in a united manner towards all-out defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and confrontation against the Zionist apartheid regime,” he underlined.

At least 145 Palestinians were injured during the day's clashes with Israeli forces and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, including East Al-Quds, where the Israeli fanatics were conducting the contentious march, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. 

It added that at least 18 of those wounded were hit by live Israeli fire.

Khatibzadeh expressed confidence that the regional Resistance Axis will succeed in preserving the Al-Aqsa Mosque and opposing “the bogus Israeli regime’s terrorist measures.”

He urged international bodies to carry out their legal obligations by halting "Zionist occupiers' onslaught on the defenseless Palestinian people."