Palestinian killed by troops as Abbas claims Israel is provoking religious war

A Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank yesterday as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of provoking a religious war.

Clashes erupted at various locations as the Israeli army sent three extra infantry battalions to the West Bank, fearing two fatal stabbings, of an Israeli soldier and a woman settler the previous day, marked the start of a new Palestinian intifada.

A 22-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by troops when a crowd of 150 protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at soldiers and Israeli cars north of the West Bank city of Hebron. An Israeli military spokesman said the victim was aiming a home-made gun at the security forces, who acted in self- defence.

Another Palestinian youth was seriously hurt when troops opened fire to disperse a separate protest. The clashes coincided with the 10th anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian president and decades-long leader of the Palestinian movement.

His successor as president, Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of dragging the region into a religious war and vowed Palestinians would never agree to Jewish prayer on the Muslim-administered Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Yasser Arafat’s anniversary

Addressing the main anniversary gathering in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mr Abbas blamed Israel for the latest violence, centred in Jerusalem.

“Israel’s leaders are making a huge mistake if they think they can now establish facts on the ground and divide prayer times at the al-Aqsa mosque,” he said. “By doing these things they are leading the region and the world into a devastating religious war.”

He maintained the rioters at the al-Aqsa mosque on the disputed holy site had the right to defend themselves, and said Muslims and Christians would never recognise Israel’s claim Jerusalem belongs to them.

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded by saying Mr Abbas was not a partner in the effort to curb extremists. Speaking at a press conference after a special security cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu accused Mr Abbas of "fanning the flames" and spreading lies, rather than speaking out against terror.