Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki (pictured) recently appeared to instigate a religious war between the Muslim world and Israel when he claimed that Israel plans “to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple” after it declares sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria.

Al-Malki made his statement in a video conference with Arab officials at the level of foreign ministers regarding Israel’s presumed future plans to apply Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and the Israeli cities and towns in Judea and Samaria, the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported Thursday.

“Israel’s annexation will place the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque… under full Israeli control, in order to execute their plan to promote their false narrative in order to destroy it and build their alleged Temple. This will turn the conflict from a political conflict into a religious conflict whose end will be bad and bitter, will undermine the stability, and will destroy the security and peace in the region and the world,” Al-Malki told the Arab officials.

It should be noted that eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were already annexed by Israel with the application of Israeli civil law there in 1967 and the passing of the Jerusalem Law in 1980. It is not part of the current annexation plan, and Al-Malki’s decision to invoke Al-Aqsa is a transparent effort to incite conflict.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which reported on the statements, noted that “Al-Malki’s statement and prediction of ‘religious war’ functions as a call to Palestinians to take to violence and terror in the event Israel goes through with the annexation.”

PMW, an incitement and antisemitism watchdog, further pointed out that Al-Malki’s statement “joins a long line of music videos and fillers broadcast by the PA designed to ignite the Palestinian street, calling to carry out suicide bombings and stabbings to ‘restore honor,’ and fight with ‘daggers and knives,’ and ‘redeem Jerusalem’.”

According to the US-formulated “Deal of the Century,” Israel can declare sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria from the beginning of July.

The US peace plan, officially titled “Vision for Peace, Prosperity, and a Brighter Future,” calls for the Israeli annexation of some 30% of the territory in Judea and Samaria already under its control, with the remaining 70% becoming a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has rejected the plan even before its details were published.