Bethlehem – Ma’an – Settlers threatened on Friday to set the West Bank city of Hebron on fire if Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak carries out a recent decision to open a street into the Jabber neighborhood.

Known to the Israelis as Zion Junction, the road has been off limits for the movement of Palestinian vehicles that were banned nine years earlier in the area of the southern Palestinian city.

An official described by Israeli media as a senior source among settlers said that “Hebron will be set ablaze if the street is opened, despite the [intelligence service] Shabak’s recommendation to continue closing it." The source added, "If the Shabak is recommending shutting it down then why take the risk? Enough blood that was shed on this street, of concern to the thousands of Israelis who use it, the lives of whom will be at risk in case it is opened to the Palestinians.”

The decision to open the street was taken by Israeli security departments several months ago, as it is the only route available for Palestinians to reach the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, but at the same time serves as a link between an illegal outpost in the heart of the Old City of Hebron. The street was shut down to all but Israeli vehicles because of settler and Shabak pressure nine years ago, and has been closed to Palestinians since then.

The Jaber street neighborhood is hundreds of meters long, beginning at the exit of the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, reaching the area of the Ibrahimi Mosque. The northern part of the street was closed in 1994 for Israeli vehicles and in 2000 the southern part was closed to the movement of Palestinian vehicles after the Second Intifadah broke out.