The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has denounced Israeli colonial settlers' desecration of mosques and the Quran in Urif village in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus as a "heinous crime".  

"The barbaric behaviour of the Israeli colonial settlers, backed by the Israeli occupation army and government, is a provocation of the feelings of our Palestinian and Muslim peoples that reflects unprecedented contempt for the Muslim holy sites," Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem said. 

In a press statement Friday, Qasem called for all segments of the Muslim world to take a firm stand against the desecration of mosques and the Holy Quran by Israeli colonial settlers. 

Holding the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the consequences of its "fierce religious war" against Muslim holy sites, Qasem explained that the Israeli occupation and colonial settlers will "pay the price" for their aggression against the Palestinian people and their sacred sites.