RAMALLAH, West Bank — As soon as Friday’s prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, where some 150,000 Palestinians took part, was over on April 22, the crowds marched in the courtyards of the mosque. Hamas’ flag was predominantly present, pointing to the movement’s wide popularity in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian protesters who took part in the mass rally near Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem chanted slogans in favor of the Palestinian armed factions and their leaders, namely Mohammed al-Deif, commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. 

As tension has been building up during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jerusalem, the popularity of Hamas and other armed factions, including the Islamic Jihad, seems to have increased in the city, amid their statements stressing that Al-Aqsa Mosque was a “red line” that Israel should not cross and their threats of a new military confrontation similar to that of May 2021 between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas seems to have succeeded in imposing a new equation in Jerusalem after acting on its threats of firing rockets from Gaza toward Israel in the event the so-called flag march that Israeli settlers held on April 20 was allowed to reach the Damascus Gate (Bab al-Amud area) in Jerusalem.