Hawzah News Agency - (Occupied Palestine) - A Hamas spokesman has accused some Arab states of rushing to normalize relations with Israel, which is engaged in stoking anti-Muslim sentiment and desecrating Muslim sacred sites.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said Thursday the Arab states are desperately attempting to advance ties with Tel Aviv at a time when the Israelis are hurting the religious sentiments of the Palestinian people and Muslims.

He went onto say that a series of recent mass break-ins into the al-Aqsa Mosque by hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers reflected “utter contempt for the feelings of the Arab and Muslim nations around the world.”

The spokesman also said an unconditional support by the administration of US President Donald Trump has emboldened Israel to violate Palestinian rights in keeping with its occupation agenda in the region.

The spokesman stressed that the Palestinian people, however, would continue to protect holy sites and uphold their struggle until the removal of the occupation from their entire land.

Senior Hamas leaders, in recent months, have repeatedly said moves by certain Arab regimes to normalize relations with Israel constitute a “stab in the back” of the Palestinian people and their cause.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political bureau, earlier strongly condemned the US-led conference in Bahrain in support of President Donald Trump’s controversial “deal of the century,” saying it amounted to Arab “normalization” of ties with Israel.