Netanyahu blamed for 'provoking Muslim feelings'

The following was published on the English edition of WAFA's website.

Headline: "Presidential spokesman: Israeli president and PM breaking into Hebron a serious escalation"

"Spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said that Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's breaking into the southern occupied West Bank of Hebron constitutes a serious escalation and a provocation of the feelings of Muslims.

He said that such a move comes in the context of continued attacks on Christian and Muslim holy sites, whether in occupied Jerusalem or Hebron.

Abu Rudeineh, in a press statement, warned of the dangerous repercussions of this Israeli incursion carried out by Netanyahu to win the votes of the extremist Israeli far-right parties, saying that it comes as part of the occupation's plans to Judaize the old town of Hebron, including al-Ibrahimi mosque.

"We hold the Israeli government responsible for the dangerous escalation which aims at dragging the area into a religious war that no one can bear its consequences," he said.

He stressed the need for the international community to intervene, particularly the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and put an end to the Israeli violations against Hebron and al-Ibrahimi mosque, and to take the necessary measures to stop them because it is on the World Heritage list.