PA Prime Minister "condemned" renovation work to make the Cave of the Patriarchs handicapped accessible while also "denouncing" Knesset's new Citizenship Law
Official PA TV News
Official PA TV newsreader: “At the start of his speech during the [PA] government’s meeting in Ramallah, [PA] Prime Minister Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh condemned the excavation and construction works that the occupation authorities and settlers carried out in the plazas of the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) for the purpose of settlement expansion, taking control of it, and Judaizing it (refers to renovation work making the site handicapped accessible -Ed.).”
PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “The Israeli Parliament’s ratification of the so-called Citizenship Law, which prevents the unification of families of thousands of Palestinians from the two sides of the Green Line (see note below -Ed.), is a matter that must be condemned and denounced (refers to law preventing Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza Strip from receiving Israeli citizenship through marriage out of security concerns -Ed.). This law clearly reflects the thinking of the system of government in Israel that is built on racism and apartheid against the Palestinians.
The [PA] government emphasizes that occupied Palestine with its lands and holy sites is not the place for any foreign party or any foreign senior official to manage its system of decisions on its land, from the plazas of its holy sites, and on its populated lands.
We condemn these foolish actions and think that they are insolence, a blatant transgression, and a violation of international law. The occupation authorities and the settlers are carrying out works of excavation and construction in the plazas of the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) for the purpose of settlement expansion, taking control of it, and Judaizing it (refers to renovations to make the site handicapped accessible -Ed.). We will defend our holy sites in Jerusalem, Hebron, and everywhere, and we demand the intervention of UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and the UN institutions to defend the compound as a religious, archaeological, and historical site.”
Green Line - 1949-1967 ceasefire line between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) following Israel's War of Independence (1948-1949). Land within the Green Line is all part of the State of Israel since 1949. Land outside the Green Line includes East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights.