Hamas chief Haniyeh: ‘We are still at the beginning of the battle’

As Israeli police clash with Palestinian rioters at al-Aqsa Mosque after a tense night of Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli strikes, Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh says “we are still at the beginning of the battle.”

“As we defeated the so-called Flag March, we will defeat the policy of invading [Al-Aqsa],” Haniyeh says.

The clashes broke out as Jewish visitors prepared to visit the site this morning. Israeli authorities barred Jews from visiting the holy site from Friday until the end of the Ramadan holy month, a standard policy in recent years.

Israeli police barred Jewish nationalists from marching through the Old City’s Damascus Gate on Wednesday. A similar planned march last year was one factor in the buildup to the war between Israel and Hamas.