Vice chairman of Hamas political bureau Ismail Haniya said on Friday that Jerusalem's Intifada must continue, and resistance against the Israeli occupation must escalate.

In a recorded message to a conference by the Islamic Leadership Forum in Istanbul,  Haniya said that Intifada and resistance must carry on, calling on the Muslim and Arab nations to support it.

Haniya noted that the grounds for Jerusalem's Intifada were obvious to everyone, adding that political stalemate, popular discontent, the siege,  desecration of Al-Aqsa, settler violence, the separation wall, Judaization of Jerusalem and the torturing of prisoners, were all indications of the upcoming explosion.

He stressed that the individual attacks carried out by the Palestinian youth in Gaza and the West Bank reflect the spirit of the people, confirming that in its third week the Intifada is escalating and getting more momentum.

Haniya said that Jerusalem’s intifada represents a “political and factual tsunami", confirming that  it cuts the road before the Israeli dreams in Jerusalem and the futile compromises with the Israeli occupation.

Haniya  explained that the Palestinian people are still at the beginning of their uprising, calling on the conference to provide the Intifada with all sorts of support and assistance, and urging for the adoption of practical steps by the forum.

Haniya addressed the conference saying "Today you confirm that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa are not the cause of Palestinians only, but the issue of the Arab and Muslim nation as well as the whole free world, which has become tired with continued Israeli terrorism .”