The detention of Hiba al-Labdi and Abdel Rahman Marei confirms that the Israeli occupation is expanding the range of its crimes and aggression to include not only the Palestinians but also the Arab and Muslim nations, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem said Thursday.

In a press release, Qasem added that the Israeli occupation is trying to dissuade Arabs and Muslims from supporting the Palestinian cause, as it is still a core issue for the Arab and Islamic peoples.

Qasem reaffirmed that the Israeli occupation “was and is still” the arch-foe of the Arab and Islamic worlds, calling for all efforts to unified to face off its ongoing crimes and aggression.  

The Hamas spokesperson saluted all Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, above all al-Labadi, who went on an open-ended hunger strike in protest at her administrative detention by Israeli occupation authorities.