Iranian Guards commander warns :” West Bank to turn into Israel’s hell”

All Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied territories will soon join forces and transform the West Bank into a “hell” for the Zionist regime, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s second-in-command, Brigadier General Hossein Salami warned according to a report by Iran’s Press TV website.

“The Palestinians in the West Bank will not abandon their ideals and someday, not very far from now, the West Bank will turn into a hell for the security of the Zionists, as the sons of the West Bank and Gaza Strip will join hands,” Salami said on Saturday.

He downplayed the effectiveness of US support for Israel against the Palestinian resistance, saying, “The US is not capable of providing security for the Zionist regime [of Israel], because the entire occupied Palestinian lands are a focal point of missiles fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Gaza’s Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” Press TV added

Salami’s comments come after Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reaffirmed On November 25 Iran’s support for the Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied territories in which he said the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank should be armed to defend their land, just like the Gazans.

“We are not entangled in religious divisions, and we will provide Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine with the same assistance we offered to Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon,” the Khamenei warned.

This development comes after violent clashes in front of Al-Aqsa mosque have intensified over the past months. Early in October, violence erupted between Palestinians and police after Israeli authorities placed restrictions on Al-Aqsa, only allowing Palestinians over the age of 50 to enter the site.

Tension over the holy site was reignited in 2000, after Israeli politician Ariel Sharon’s visit triggered a Palestinian uprising, the so-called Second Intifada that lasted five years.

Currently the Old City, where the holy site is located, has been under Israeli jurisdiction since the 1967 Six-Day war. However, the mosque itself was left under the administration of the Jerusalem Islamic waqf (an Islamic trust). Muslims have been governing the holy site since the Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem in 1187. Israeli authorities have repeatedly stated that they are not planning to change the situation.

In November, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas warned the Israeli government against changing the status quo at Temple Mount. He said that a global religious war could be triggered if Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in Al-Aqsa mosque.