The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas called on Thursday for facing off Israeli demolition and displacement campaigns in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied Jerusalem.

Senior Hamas official Rafat Morra said that such plans aim to change the social and demographic features of occupied Jerusalem and undermine its national identity in bid to judaise the holy city and take control of its neighbourhoods and sites.

“This plan is a retention of the Israeli policy of taking over Jerusalem and its neighbourhoods and enforcing a political equation in the city to impose the Israeli occupation’s dominance,” Morra added in a press statement.

Denouncing the plan as an “act of terrorism,” Morra explained that the Israeli occupation is using a policy of coercion and violence against the rightful owners in bid to make an ethno-demographic change in violation of all international laws and human rights conventions.

The Hamas official called for an Arab, Muslim and international position against the Israeli plan, which threatens Jerusalem’s history and status.