Abbas Accuses Israel of Religious War

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel is leading the region toward a “religious war,” claiming that visits by Jewish worshippers to a site sacred to both Islam and Judaism are fueling clashes that have raised the prospect of a broad outbreak of fighting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded sharply, saying that Abbas was making matters worse. Abbas made his remarks at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. They came amid continuing clashes in Israel and the West Bank, during which Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian demonstrator near the city of Hebron. Just before dawn Wednesday, an attack against a West Bank mosque ignited a fire that destroyed the first floor, a Palestinian official said. The mayor of Al Muier, where the fire occurred, blamed Jewish settlers for the attack.