Palestinian PM Haniyeh calls for West Bank uprising

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called for uprisings in the occupied West Bank over a controversial Israeli plan to confiscate two holy sites in the territory as “national heritage.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that the regime is planning to include Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in a “national heritage plan”.

His remarks drew protests from the Palestinians, the United Nations, Jordan and Egypt.

“The decision requires a real response in the West Bank and for the people to rise up in the face of the Israeli occupation and to break every shackle in confronting it,” Haniyeh said Tuesday.

“(The project) aims to erase our identity, alter our Islamic monuments and steal our history,” he added.

In Hebron there were sporadic clashes near the Ibrahim Mosque above the Tomb of the Patriarchs but there were no reports of casualties.

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem shops and schools were closed in a day-long general strike, AFP reported.