Vienna, October 13 (RHC)-- The foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority says Israel is deliberately fueling violence in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to divert attention away from its diplomatic failures.

In comments ahead of a ceremony for the raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations office in Vienna on Monday, Riad al-Malki said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a third Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, in order to sweep his wrong decisions under the carpet.

“Netanyahu wants to instigate a third Intifada. He wants to avoid problems that he is facing in the political and diplomatic arena, where he has failed miserably,” Malki said. The top Palestinian diplomat said Netanyahu’s decision to violate the status quo of the al-Aqsa compound was a “grave mistake” which triggered outrage in Palestine.

“Netanyahu is widening the scope of the conflict from a political one with the Palestinians - which always has a possibility of finding a political solution - to an unlimited war with Muslims around the world," Malki warned, saying that there is still “a possibility to contain” the crisis if Israel acts “according to international law.”

More than 25 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured since Israel began a harsh crackdown on the Palestinians enraged by the settler violence and a plan by Israelis to change the status quo of the al-Aqsa Mosque, a holy site revered by all Muslims around the world and highly respected by the Palestinians.

Israeli forces have also expanded their fatal attacks on the residents of Gaza, a besieged enclave on the Mediterranean. International condemnations have poured in over the crackdown, with some observers warning that Tel Aviv’s provocations could open the doors for a new Intifada against the regime.