Al-Aqsa Storm op. legitimate defense against long occupation

Speaking during this week's Friday Prayers sermon in Tehran, the senior clergyman hailed the Palestinian Resistance groups for the October 7 attack on occupied territories from Gaza, which left more than a thousand Zionists (soldiers or armed settlers) killed while hundreds of them taken to Gaza Strip as prisoners of war. 

He called the Hamas attack on the occupied territories "Jihad" in accordance with the holy Qur'an verses. 

"The oppressed must sue the oppressor because the silence of the oppressed makes the oppressor more assertive. Therefore, for those who have been surrounded in a prison in Gaza for more than ten years and have been killed and their rights have been violated by the Israelis for years, Jihad or defense is a natural and rational matter," Hujjat al-Islam Sediqi added.

He further recalled the Leader of the Islamic Revolution's remarks who said that the settlers are not civilians bu rather armed to the teeth, describing them as legitimate targets.

Saying that Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the holiest sites for Muslims, this week's Tehran Friday Prayers leader said, "If Mujahideen do not defend this mosque, the enemy will destroy it, and therefore defending this mosque is one of the permits for Jihad. Therefore, the warriors were religiously and socially allowed to do this operation."

"In occupied Palestine, all the Israelis are an army that has formed a regime. All of them are armed and there are absolutely no ordinary citizens in them," the senior cleric said.

The unprecedented Palestinian operation, according to resistance groups, came in response to months-long desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque and increased Israeli violence against Palestinians. The Israeli forces and settlers killed more than 200 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2023. 

At least 4,137 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments, according to figures from the health ministry in the besieged coastal strip. Nearly 13,500 individuals have also been injured. 

MNA/TSNM2974900