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Iran Revolutionary Guards ready to back Palestinian forces
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Tear gas fumes billow during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces after Friday prayers at the main entrance of the West bank city of Bethlehem on July 21, 2017 at a protest against new Israeli security measures implemented at Al-Aqsa mosque complex, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. The new security measures include metal detectors, security cameras, and barring men under 50 from entering the Old City for Friday Muslim prayers, following an attack that killed two Israeli policemen the previous week. (AFP/ Musa Al Shaer )
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ranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani says his nation is ready to support Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip, days after the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Soleimani, commander of the Al Quds force, made the offer in a phone call late Monday with leaders of groups in Gaza, according to the Revolutionary Guard Corps’ website, Sepah News, which didn’t give details of the assistance proffered. Some militant factions in Gaza, including the ruling Hamas movement, already receive Iranian aid and military support.
Other forces in the region are ready to defend the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Soleimani also told the Gaza faction leaders, without identifying them. The mosque is Islam’s third-holiest shrine and a frequent flashpoint for tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinians claim Jerusalem’s eastern sector, where the mosque stands, as the capital of a future state, and they oppose the US move. Hamas has called for another uprising against Israel in response, though so far protests have been limited.
President Donald Trump’s move last week has also been criticized by European and Arab leaders who say it is liable to fuel more conflict in the Middle East and shatter any hope of peace between Israeli and Palestinians. The international community doesn’t recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, whose eastern sector Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
