Hawzah News Agency – The absence of a political horizon and the continuous Israeli provocations against the Palestinian people and holy places are bound to inflame not only Palestine, but the entire region, today said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency.

He said in a statement that the storming yesterday of Damascus Gate area in occupied East Jerusalem by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was irresponsible behavior, as well as army, police and settlers’ provocations, all of which could lead to an explosion not only in Palestine but in the region as a whole.

Abu Rudeineh said the rapid developments resulting from the continuing Israeli escalation, whether in the courtyards of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, the daily intrusions by settlers, and the attacks against the Palestinian people in Jerusalem or in the West Bank constitute “a clear and blatant violation that proves Israel's lack of commitment to the understandings and agreements, or to the pledges and positions announced by the administration of the United States, and the efforts made by actors in the region to prevent escalation.”

Abu Rudeineh said, “Israel should be fully aware that what is happening at Damascus Gate and other neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the behavior of the occupation police towards Palestinian citizens, the continued suffering of prisoners, the withholding of the bodies of martyrs, and even the official Israeli threats of new military operations in Gaza, all of which will lead to a flare-up of the fire and will damage the already fragile balance of deterrence.”

He said that the Palestinian leadership holds Israel fully responsible for this escalation, and warns against infringing on Islamic and Christian holy places, stressing that “Jerusalem is not for sale or bargaining.”

The presidential spokesman added that “all regional or international alliances have failed to remove the Palestinians from the equation. The new concept that must go beyond the US and Israeli politics is through the victory of the Palestinian leadership and people over the policy of apartheid and an end to the double standards practiced by Western countries, which have also lost credibility or what was left of it with the peoples of the region and the world.”

He stressed that “the only road to security and stability is very clear, and the address is Ramallah and the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions. Without a political horizon on these fixed points, things will remain explosive and dangerous, and the region will continue to live in tensions and endless conflicts.”