Arab and Muslim leaders, governments, and peoples share a historic responsibility to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, preacher of the holy site, declared in a video message marking the 56th anniversary of the 1969 arson attack.

Speaking from Istanbul on Thursday, Sheikh Sabri described Al-Aqsa as “a trust around the necks of all” and warned against abandoning its protection in the face of the Israeli occupation’s ongoing crimes. He condemned repeated settler incursions, unauthorized excavations, and other violations as “major corruption and persistent crimes,” recalling the deliberate obstruction of firefighters during the 1969 blaze that devastated the Mosque.

Hamas echoed Sheikh Sabri’s call in a statement, emphasizing that Israel’s actions targeting the identity and history of Jerusalem will never alter the Mosque’s Islamic character. “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa will remain the core of the struggle with the Zionist enemy, the compass of unity for our people and our nation, and a rallying point for solidarity until their liberation,” the movement affirmed.

The statement denounced Israel’s attempts to impose temporal and spatial divisions within the Mosque, stressing that the occupation has “no sovereignty and no legitimacy” over Al-Aqsa. Hamas further warned that Israeli ambitions, including references to a so-called “Greater Israel” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threaten not only historic Palestine but the broader region, making the occupation a danger to regional and global security.

Hamas called upon Arab and Muslim nations, as well as global supporters of justice, to fulfill their historic duty in backing the Palestinian people’s steadfastness and resistance. The movement urged intensified popular mobilization, particularly on Friday, August 22, and the days following, to show solidarity with Palestinians, protect Al-Aqsa, and support Gaza amid the ongoing blockade, starvation, and violence.

“The duty to protect Al-Aqsa is not optional; it is an obligation of our faith, history, and conscience,” Sheikh Sabri concluded, reiterating that preserving the sacred Mosque is central to the Palestinian struggle and the unity of the Muslim nation. (ILKHA)