Thousands of Arabs marked Al-Quds Day by participating in mass parades in Gaza. Al-Quds day is an international "holiday" started in 1979 by Iranian revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini and intended to emphasize the Muslim world's responsibility to "free Palestine." In the Gaza events, Hamas Parliament member and Al-Quds International Chief Ahmad Abu Hilbiyya said that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque are being "viciously attacked" by Israel, and "several victims have already died." Hilbiyya called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas not to expel "fighters" and jihadists from Judea and Samaria, but to allow them to fight with the "occupation" and support the Al-Quds intifada in any way possible. The Arab newspaper Palestin quoted Hilbiyya as telling Israel, "Get out of our land and our holy places, out of our Al-Aqsa Mosque, because we are coming and with us are all of the organizations which support our fight. We will continue to fight with force all efforts against Jerusalem and the other Palestinian lands."
