Palestinian-Israeli conflict may grow into full-blown religious war: Abbas’ Advisor

Cairo: The current armed confrontation between Israel and Palestinians may escalate into a large-scale religious war, whose consequences will be felt across the world, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Palestinian president’s religious and Islamic affairs advisor, told Sputnik in an interview.
The Palestinian Authority has warned for years of a possible outbreak of religious war due to “Israel’s violations of holy sites in Jerusalem, as well as extremist actions by Jewish settlers,” the official said.
“If the status quo is preserved as it is now and if Israel and its settlers do not stop provoking the religious feelings of the Palestinians and Muslims in general, then the world will face a religious war, the fire of which will go beyond Palestine, and the entire world will pay for it,” Al-Habbash said.
Recently resumed fighting in East Jerusalem over the planned eviction of Palestinian families has led to the worst violence between Israel and Palestinians in recent years. Palestinian militants have launched several thousand rockets from Gaza toward Israel, which in response has fired retaliatory strikes against the enclave.
The hostilities have killed over 200 Palestinians, including 61 children, and injured about a thousand others. Israel, in turn, has reported 10 killed and 50 others seriously injured.

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