The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has emphasised that the Palestinian people will continue their legitimate struggle to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque and protect its Islamic identity at any cost.
 
In a press statement Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem reaffirmed that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a "red line" for the Palestinian people, who will not allow the Israeli occupation to alter its Islamic identity. 

Qasem's remarks came after a group of extremist Israeli colonial settlers broke into the Al-Aqsa compound and performed religious rituals that simulate the rabbis' rituals in their preparation to build the alleged temple at the Muslim sacred site. 

The Hamas spokesperson strongly condemned such move as a "new escalation of the Israeli religious war against our holy sites."