Hamas has repeatedly justified its October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel by arguing that it was seeking to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest shrine in Islam, against attempts by Jews to take it over.
Hamas -- officially designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, Paraguay, and the Organization of American States -- even named the attack, during which more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered and thousands injured and tortured, after the mosque: "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood."
In 2024, Hamas published a statement in which itclaimedthat the attack was primarily the result of "the Israeli Judaization plans to the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque, its temporal and spatial division attempts, as well as the intensification of the Israeli settlers' incursions into the holy mosque."
More than two years after the October 7 massacre -- the worst crime committed against Jews since the Holocaust -- the Al-Aqsa Mosque remains intact, as tens of thousands of Muslims continue tovisitit and pray there without being harassed.
On October 31, 2025, the Hamas-affiliated media websiteQuds Pressreported:
"Tens of thousands of [Muslim] worshippers performed Friday prayers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."
On January 9, 2026, the Muslim Brotherhood'sIkhwan Onlinewebsitereported:
"Tens of thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards."
Notably, Hamasdescribesitself as "one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine."
That such a large number of Muslims are able to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem every week shows that Hamas's claim that the Jews are desecrating the mosque and plotting to control it is another big lie produced by the terror group and its supporters.
Source: Gatestone Institute :: Articles
