TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has reacted to the recent Israeli measures in Jerusalem and the West Bank that inflamed tensions between Palestinians and the Israelis. 

The Iranian foreign ministry said that “Khatibzadeh has condemned the Zionist regime's racist actions in forcing the Palestinian residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied West Bank to leave their homes.”

Khatibzadeh expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people as the main and real inhabitants of this ancient land and cradle of divine religions.

Khatibzadeh stressed the need to support the Palestinian people and called for an end to the destruction of their homes and confiscation of their land, which is a continuation of the apartheid policies of the child-killer Zionist regime.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the world community and international organizations to fulfill their legal and humanitarian commitments in this regard.

The well-known Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem (al-Quds) has been a scene of clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians since last week. The fresh wave of clashes began when far-right Knesset member Itamar Ben Gvir, accompanied by dozens of Jewish settlers, broke into the neighborhood to set up a parliamentary office there.

A member of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Ben Gvir contributed to inflaming the situation, according to Israeli media. He made a “substantial contribution” to erupting clashes in the neighborhood, a police source told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.

Earlier this month, a Palestinian elderly died in Israeli custody. He was detained by Israeli troops at a checkpoint in the West Bank and was later found dead.  An autopsy conducted by three Palestinian doctors found that the man died of cardiac arrest after a stress-induced heart attack resulting from “external violence,” according to the Associated Press.

A Palestinian young man from the village of Kafr Ein, north of Ramallah was shot dead by the Israeli army at the entrance to the village of Al-Nabi Saleh.

On February 8, an Israeli force assassinated three Palestinians in the Al-Makhfieh neighborhood in Nablus after shooting at a Palestinian vehicle they were traveling in.

Sources revealed to Al-Mayadeen that the Hamas movement held talks with the Egyptians about the recent Israeli attacks in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

The sources said that Hamas informed the Egyptian side that what is happening is an "escalation of danger that cannot be tolerated," and that the occupation government is "playing with fire again."

Hamas confirmed that the expulsion of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is a "red line that the resistance knows how to respond to." In turn, the Palestinian factions confirmed that they "will not leave the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood alone."

On Sunday, a Hamas leader warned that tampering with Jerusalem is playing with fire.

The deputy head of the movement in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Haya, said that "the occupation must choose between fire or peace."

He added: "Gaza is still standing ready to defend our people with all its might."