GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Hamas Movement on Thursday condemned threats by Israeli National Security minister Itamar Ben Gvir to demolish the grave of Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam near Haifa, describing the move as an unprecedented violation of sanctities and a grave desecration reflecting a “deeply vindictive mindset.”
Ben Gvir has repeatedly called for the demolition of al-Qassam’s grave, which is located in an Islamic cemetery on the land of the depopulated al-Sheikh Village near Haifa. The remarks have drawn sharp criticism amid Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi said in a statement that “the extremist Itamar Ben Gvir’s threat to remove the grave of the mujahid Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam, and his announcement of taking the first step toward that goal, represents an unprecedented level of assault on sanctities and a blatant violation of sacred sites.”
Mardawi added that the move comes “after grave crimes and violations committed against our people in Gaza,” describing it as “a new desecration that extends even to the graves of the dead.”
He said the threat “exposes the depth of moral decay reached by the Israeli occupation and reflects a vindictive mentality that does not hesitate to tamper with our people’s history and their national and religious symbols.”
Mardawi stressed that “targeting the grave of al-Qassam, the eminent Syrian scholar and resistance fighter, and an icon of revolutionary struggle against oppression and occupation, is not merely an attack on a burial site, but an attempt to erase the memory of the nation and remove a living testament to its ongoing struggle.”
He added that “violating the sanctity of the dead lays bare the fascist mentality governing the Israeli occupation government and confirms that extremism has become an official policy that requires firm international action to rein in this brutality.”
Earlier on Thursday, Ben Gvir posted a video on his Telegram account showing himself overseeing the removal of a tent erected by the Islamic Waqf Committee near al-Qassam’s shrine, while reiterating his threat to demolish the grave.
Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, said in the video, “This is our land, the land of the State of Israel. This is a first and important step toward removing the inciting display known as the grave of Izz al-Din al-Qassam from here.”
Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam, born in the Syrian coastal city of Jableh, was one of the most prominent leaders of resistance against British colonial rule in Palestine. He was killed by British forces in Jenin on November 19, 1935. Hamas’s military wing bears his name.
