PA Religious Affairs Ministry warns that Netanyahu visit to Hebron "will drag the region into a religious war", calls on Palestinians to "to defend the Ibrahimi Mosque"

Headline: “The [PA] Ministry of Religious Affairs warns against the dangerous situation at the Ibrahimi Mosque”

“The [PA] Ministry of Religious Affairs warned against the dangerous situation at the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron after settlers set up tents at Tel Rumeida (i.e., the Jewish neighborhood of Hebron) in the center of the city for the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the city. [The visit] is expected to take place tomorrow (sic., today, Aug. 4., 2019) on the pretext of participating in government ceremonies to mark 90 years since the Al-Burak Rebellion (i.e., the 1929 Hebron  Massacre in which 65 Jews were murdered)…

The Ministry of Religious Affairs emphasized in a statement it published yesterday that Netanyahu’s visit constitutes a grave escalation and a blow to the Muslims’ sensibilities, and that it will drag the region into a religious war whose consequences will be grave. It reminds us of [Israeli Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon’s visit in Jerusalem (i.e., to the Temple Mount) in 2000, which ignited the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered).

It should be noted that the occupation authorities notified the residents of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, the Old City [of Hebron], and the surrounding area of limiting steps for the visit, among them the closing of the Ibrahimi Mosque to [Muslim] worshippers and the imposing of a curfew.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs condemned the demands of Likud, Shas, and the Union of the Right- Wing Parties ministers and MPs to allow the construction of a Jewish neighborhood in the area of the Jewish market in Hebron and above the houses of the Old City.

The ministry called on our people to defend the Ibrahim Mosque and prevent all of the plans to take it over and remove the Muslims from it. He called on the international community to help and stop the Israeli actions, out of fear that the entire area will go up in flames.”