Head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh called on Saturday for true Turkish position against Israeli mass displacement and demolition campaigns in occupied Jerusalem, particularly in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

During a meeting with the Turkish parliament’s Turkey-Palestine Friendship Group chief Hasan Turan, a number of Turkish MPs and some local officials, Haniyeh said: “We are confident that our Muslim Ummah will not accept or allow this situation to take place in Jerusalem.”

The Hamas chief called for the Turkish parliament speaker and parties to take a true stand on the Israeli demolition campaigns in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, express their position politically and through the media, and work with other regional and international parliaments to put an end to the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.

Noting that Turkey has a considerable political weight and a network of international and diplomatic relations capable of taking a positive action for Jerusalem, Haniyeh urged for every possible step to be taken to prevent the Israeli occupation from Judaising the holy city, displacing its indigenous Palestinian population and dividing Al-Aqsa Mosque spatially and timely.

The Palestinian people will defend Jerusalem with all their strength, Haniyeh stressed.

“We will not accept the status quo to be changed or new reality to be imposed inside the city, which is at the centre of a storm,” Haniyeh continued. 

Haniyeh explained that Turkey has played a pivotal role in defending Jerusalem for hundreds of years, along with some regional countries, hoping for influential political, diplomatic, and media efforts to be exerted for Jerusalem at all levels.

The top Hamas official denounced the Israeli plans to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes and displace their dwellers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood as a “humanitarian crime and a catastrophe for an entire neighbourhood and its residents.” 

During the meeting, Haniyeh addressed the latest developments related to the Palestinian cause, especially as efforts being made and talks held to achieve national reconciliation and hold the Palestinian elections in order to rebuild the Palestinian political system, including the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Haniyeh reiterated his movement’s commitment to go ahead with this track, reaffirming the necessity to hold elections in Jerusalem, where Palestinian Jerusalemites can vote and run for the elections.

At the end of the meeting, Haniyeh agreed with the Turkish MPs on taking a series of measures in support of Jerusalem and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.