News - Middle East: The chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has blasted Israeli forces for storming the al-Aqsa Mosque, stating that the Tel Aviv regime is stoking tensions across the occupied lands in order to escape from the Palestinian resistance and avoid retaliatory operations targeting areas deep inside Israel.

Major General Hossein Salami made the remarks in a meeting on Saturday with a number of IRGC commanders, officials, managers and personnel.

“Nowadays, the fake and criminal Zionist regime is creating crises across the occupied territories in the hope of staying away from a popular uprising (Intifada) and escaping from Palestinians’ resistance, especially from the youths in the West Bank and elsewhere. We are now witnessing the bombardment of the Gaza Strip and brutal crimes against oppressed Palestinians. Such measures, however, will not get them anywhere,” Salami said.

He said hundreds of thousands of Israelis have protested in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities for 13 straight weeks against a controversial judicial overhaul that the hard-right administration of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to pass, describing the protests as unprecedented.