In a statement on Friday, Haneyya warned the zionist occupation of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to carry out its malicious plots in Jerusalem and against the Aqsa Mosque, stressing its schemes would never go unnoticed and unanswered.

The Hamas political leader also strongly denounced the renewed israeli decision to banish Sheikh Ekrima Sabri from the Aqsa Mosque, describing the measure as “a violation against the Palestinians’ freedom of worship and part of attempts to empty the Islamic holy sites of Muslim worshipers.”

He paid tribute to all the Jerusalemite men and women who never stopped assuming their religious, national and humanitarian role in defending the Aqsa Mosque, calling on the Palestinian masses to use all means available to protect the Mosque, especially against recent calls by Jewish groups to defile the holy site.