On the occasion of the 56th anniversary of the crime of burning the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas affirmed today, Thursday, that the Zionist occupation holds no legitimacy over the mosque, and that attempts to erase its Islamic identity will not succeed.
The movement stressed that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa will remain the symbol of the struggle and the compass of unity for the Palestinian people and the Islamic nation, calling for an Arab and Islamic mobilization to protect them and confront the occupation’s schemes, including settlement expansion, Judaization, provocative incursions, and attempts to divide Al-Aqsa in time and space.
Hamas called upon the masses of the Palestinian people and the Islamic nation to march to Al-Aqsa Mosque, remain in iʿtikaf (devotional presence), and continue solidarity with the people of Gaza until the end of the aggression and the breaking of the siege.
Earlier last week, the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, issued a statement in multiple languages calling for confronting the Zionist policies in Jerusalem on the occasion of the 56th anniversary of the burning of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and for escalating confrontation in the West against the war of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The movement also issued an appeal to Muslims worldwide to assume their responsibility in light of the ongoing crimes of Judaization and settlement expansion targeting Jerusalem and the Muslim and Christian holy sites.
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In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Press Statement
On the 56th Anniversary of the Crime of Burning the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque:
No sovereignty and no legitimacy for the occupation over a single inch of Al-Aqsa. The fascist enemy’s measures will not succeed in erasing its Islamic identity. We call for serious Arab and Islamic mobilization to protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, to confront the schemes of the fascist occupation government against them, and to stop its aggression against our people, our land, and our holy sites.
The 56th anniversary of the crime of burning Al-Aqsa Mosque comes on August 21, 1969, while the Zionist occupation escalates its crimes of genocide, horrific massacres, siege, and systematic starvation against the Gaza Strip for more than 22 months. Meanwhile, its fascist government continues to implement its settlement and Judaization schemes throughout the occupied West Bank, targeting our holy sites—at the heart of which are Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque—through provocative incursions into its courtyards, feverish attempts to impose temporal and spatial division, and open promotion of schemes to demolish and destroy it in order to build the so-called “Temple” upon its ruins.
On the 56th anniversary of the crime of burning the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, we in the Hamas Movement affirm the following:
First: The crime of burning Al-Aqsa Mosque and other crimes of the enemy, along with its schemes targeting the identity and history of the city of the blessed mosque, will never succeed in imposing a fait accompli enabling the occupation leaders and their fascist governments to seize even one inch of it—no matter how long the struggle or how great the sacrifices.
Second: The city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque will remain the symbol of the struggle with the Zionist enemy, and the compass of unity for our people and our nation in defending and supporting them, in solidarity with their people and the steadfast protectors within them, until they are liberated from the filth of occupation.
Third: The occupation has neither sovereignty nor legitimacy over the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. None of its schemes or attempts—systematic incursions, continuous desecration, or attempts at temporal and spatial division—will succeed in erasing its identity. Al-Aqsa will forever remain purely Islamic, the destination of the hearts of the nation across the world.
Fourth: The occupation’s schemes and ambitions are not confined to the borders of historic Palestine but extend to neighboring Arab countries, as expressed in war criminal Netanyahu’s statements about the so-called “Greater Israel.” This makes the fascist entity a real danger threatening the security and stability of the region and the world, requiring serious action to curb its arrogance and aggression, isolate it internationally, and prosecute its leaders as war criminals.
Fifth: We stress the necessity that the nation—leaders, peoples, and organizations—assume their historic responsibility to support the steadfastness of our people and their resistance in confronting the danger and aggression of the occupation, uniting their efforts and intensifying their mobilization to protect and defend the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque from the escalating threats it faces.
Sixth: We call upon the masses of our people in Jerusalem, our people inside the occupied homeland, and across the occupied West Bank to march to Al-Aqsa Mosque, remain steadfast in ribat, and stay in iʿtikaf, confronting every attempt by extremists to storm and desecrate it, and to thwart their schemes.
We also call upon the masses of our nation and the free people of the world to continue their popular mobilization in every city and public square, making Friday, August 22, and the coming days a period of escalation of all forms of solidarity with the just cause of our people, enhancing support and solidarity with our people in the Gaza Strip, and confronting the crimes of occupation, genocide, siege, and starvation—until the aggression is stopped, the crossings are opened, and humanitarian aid enters.
We pray for mercy upon the souls of our righteous martyrs in proud Gaza, in the steadfast West Bank, in Jerusalem, and in the camps of refuge and diaspora. We will remain loyal to their blood and their struggle by clinging to comprehensive resistance until liberation and return.
Our great people, with their valiant resistance, will remain united, holding fast to their land and legitimate rights, a solid shield defending the land and protecting the holy sites until liberation and return.
And indeed it is jihad of victory or martyrdom.
The Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas
Thursday, 27 Safar 1447 AH
August 21, 2025 CE