AIN AL-HILWEH, Lebanon: Hundreds of Palestinian refugees protested Friday against Israel limiting access for Muslims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem, chanting slogans against the Jewish state and demanding Hezbollah direct its rockets toward “the enemy.”
“We will throw Israel into the waters and destroy it,” the crowd of women, men and children chanted as they marched through the neighborhoods of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon.
Islamist parties in the camp called for the demonstration, primarily Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Osbat al-Ansar and the Islamic Jihad Movement.
The crowd began the protest after Friday prayers outside the Al-Nour Hospital, where protesters began chanting: “Death to Israel.”
One man held his 4-year-old son over his shoulders and gave him an empty gun to hold.
“I know I should have given my son a plastic gun, but the images of Israeli children writing on rockets to be fired at Gaza and encouraging Israel to kill Gazan children infuriated me,” Mohammad al-Abed told The Daily Star.
Protesters affiliated with the Hezbollah-backed Islamic Jihad carried pictures and models of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the protest.
Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on several occasions this the limited access to the mosque. Four Palestinians were arrested and three police were injured in a confrontation Thursday.
Ali Barakeh, a Hamas official in Lebanon, addressed the protesters, vowing that future clashes with Israel would see Palestinians storming Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site for Muslims.
“The enemy will be defeated,” he said.
Other protesters asked Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, to fire rockets at Israel instead of Syria, in reference to the group’s role in the neighboring country.
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