October 21 marks the 55th anniversary of the crime of burning al-Aqsa Mosque, an anniversary that carries particular relevance today, as the Zionist regime wages a genocide in Gaza and repeatedly invades the holy sites of Palestinians, calling for their destruction, occupation and replacement. In a statement, Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, said that ” “the Al-Aqsa flood united our people and strengthened our compass towards liberating the land and holy sites.”

In the statement on the 55th anniversary of the crime of burning Al-Aqsa Mosque, Hamas said that this anniversary comes while international silence, inaction, and failure, as well as U.S. and Western support for the crimes, massacres, and violations of the occupation, continue, emphasizing that “the crime of burning Al-Aqsa Mosque and all the crimes of the occupation have only increased our people’s and our valiant resistance’s steadfastness and commitment to our land and our holy sites.”

The statement further emphasized that all the occupation’s attempts and plans to Judaize Al-Aqsa, change its features, obliterate its identity, or divide it temporally and spatially will not succeed, while stressing that “the occupation has no sovereignty or legitimacy over an inch of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, as it was and will remain an Islamic endowment.”

The statement reiterated the necessity of supporting and protecting Al-Aqsa, and said: “Our nation, its leaders and governments, which rushed to support Al-Aqsa after the crime of burning it in 1969, are called upon today to assume their historical responsibility in defending it.”

In the same context, the statement pointed out the necessity for the nation’s leaders, officials, peoples, governments and organizations to assume their historical role and responsibilities in supporting the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people.

It called upon the Arab and Islamic nation and all free people in the world to join in a general mobilization and gathering in all squares on Friday August 23, urging that “Friday be a day of mass and effective victory and defense of Gaza, Jerusalem, and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

“Defending Al-Aqsa is a duty for every free and honorable person”

The Islamic Jihad Movement, in turn, said on the 55th anniversary of the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque, that the Palestinian people, who have made such great sacrifices, will not submit to Israeli plans.

The statement stated that Jerusalem is exposed to real dangers, and that forced displacement projects, emptying the city of its people, and attempts to Judaize Al-Aqsa have not stopped.

Likewise, the Movement stressed that Jerusalem will remain the symbol of resistance, and that defending Al-Aqsa is a duty for every free and honorable person.

On this day in 1969, an Australian settler stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque and deliberately set fire to the eastern wing of the mosque, destroying the mosque’s facades, ceiling, carpets, rare decorations, and all its contents of Qur’ans and furniture. The building was severely damaged, requiring years to restore and decorate it as it was.