JERUSALEM // President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the “despicable assassination” of a Palestinian man killed by Israeli police after he was accused of trying to murder a Jewish rabbi.
Israeli police stormed the home of Mutaz Hijazi, 33, and pursued him to the rooftop where he was shot and killed on Thursday, his family said.
A day earlier, right-wing rabbi Yehuda Glick was seriously wounded in a shooting outside a heritage centre in Jerusalem. Mr Glick’s demands that Jews be allowed to pray at the Al Aqsa compound in east Jerusalem has angered Muslims.
In a letter of condolence to Hijazi’s family, Mr Abbas said he had “died a martyr defending the rights of our people and the holy places”. He said Hijazi had been killed by “the Israeli occupation army’s terrorist gangs”.
The letter sent on Sunday outraged Israeli leaders.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Palestinian leader’s remarks, saying: “While we are trying to calm the situation, Abu Mazen [Abbas] sends his condolences on the death of a man who tried to commit a despicable act.”
Violence has soared in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem after the July murder of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists in revenge for the killing of three Israelis in the West Bank.
Clashes have picked up again over the past few weeks, focused mainly on tensions around the Al Aqsa mosque compound, a disputed holy site sacred to both Muslims and Jews in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City.
Israeli police arrested at least 23 Palestinians on Monday as part of a continued crackdown on protests in the city, Palestinian officials said.
*Agence France-Presse
