RAMALLAH, West Bank — Maj. Gen. Jibril Rajoub, the deputy secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, said in an interview with Al-Monitor that the level of conflict with Israel has reached a point of no return. He described the ongoing violent clashes in the Palestinian territories as a popular struggle facing state as well as non-state terrorism by the Israeli army and settlers, with most of the victims of the clashes being children and civilians.

The full text of the interview with the former head of the Preventive Security Force in the West Bank and former national security adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas follows:

Al-Monitor:  Israel is being accused of working to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque in time and area between Muslims and Jews, as it did with the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994. What is your position regarding the issue of division? And what can the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement do to thwart the attempt? Do you expect the outbreak of a third intifada in the West Bank and East Jerusalem because of developments in Al-Aqsa and the closed political horizon for the Palestinians and the deteriorating economic conditions? Will it be peaceful or armed?

Rajoub:  The Al-Aqsa issue will lead to an explosion of the situation and a regional war. These are Islamic sanctities, which Israel must not come near or touch. But this Israeli government is racist and fascist. The Palestinians are offering their blood in defense of Al-Aqsa. The PA is moving politically and diplomatically. Everything is being reconsidered now.