GAZA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The armed wings of 10 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, warned Israel on Tuesday they would respond to its measures against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Masked militants carrying arms, representing the armed wings of these factions, issued the warning at a news conference in Gaza Tuesday afternoon.
A masked militant, representing the pro-Hamas Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza, told the press that the military wings can not keep silent for the "endless daily Israeli violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque," one of top holy Muslim sites.
"We won't let the Israeli occupation under any circumstances to carry on its attacks against our Aqsa Mosque and our holy sites in Jerusalem and in all Palestine," said the militant.
He added that "defending Jerusalem is not only the responsibility of the Palestinians, but also the responsibility of all Arabs and Muslims allover the world, and they are not allowed to turn their backs to what happens."
The militant called on the Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to unite and defend Jerusalem by all their means, adding "the enemy (Israel) must know that the price of attacking Al-Aqsa will be very high."
Israel had temporarily closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after a terror attack on Friday, in which three Israeli Arab assailants were shot dead after killing two Israeli policemen in the area.
Tensions have been rising after Israel installed metal detectors and CCTVs outside the gates to the compound as part of new security measures, which Palestinians protested as violation of the status quo.
At least 50 Palestinian protesters were wounded Monday night in clashes with Israeli security forces on the compound.
