Israeli president Shimon Peres has said that the row over the protection of Jewish and Muslim heritage sites by Israel is being incited by extremists and Hamas.
Hamas’s leader in Gaza has called on Palestinians to attack Israel over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to include the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and the site of Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, in a £69m restoration plan. Both are also important Islamic shrines.
Ismail Haniyeh called on the Palestinians to launch a third intifada against the decision. He said: "Jerusalem is ours, the land is ours, and God is with us. We will not accept these decisions and they will have no ramifications."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called the planned investment in two heritage sites “a serious provocation which may lead to a religious war."
