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‘Netanyahu wants third intifida’: Palestinian foreign minister claims Israel deliberately instigated unrest

Malki said Netanyahu had committed a “grave mistake” by “violating the status quo” of East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound.

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An injured Palestinian demonstrator is helped during clashes at the Hawara checkpoint near of the West Bank city of Nablus. Photo: AP

Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki on Monday accused Israel of seeking to spark “a third intifada”, as violence again flared in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu wants to instigate a third intifada. He wants to avoid problems that he is facing in the political and diplomatic arena, where he has failed miserably,” Malki said in Vienna.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki. Photo: Xinhua
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki. Photo: Xinhua

Malki said Netanyahu had committed a “grave mistake” by “violating the status quo” of East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound, one of Islam's holiest sites and the holiest site in Judaism. The site has been a flashpoint in the conflict and the scene of frequent clashes between police and Palestinian youths.

Netanyahu wants to instigate a third intifada. He wants to avoid problems that he is facing in the political and diplomatic arena
Riad al-Malki

“Netanyahu is widening the scope of the conflict from a political one with the Palestinians – which always has a possibility of finding a political solution – to an unlimited war with Muslims around the world,” Malki warned.

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