JERUSALEM, February 27, 2018 (WAFA) – Church leaders decided on Tuesday to reopen the door to the Holy Sepulcher at 4:00 am Wednesday after Israel suspended a decision to tax churches in Jerusalem.

A statement by the three churches in charge of the Holy Sepulcher, the crucifixion and burial site of Jesus Christ, said that following the suspension of an Israeli decision to tax the churches for their property, it was decided to reopen the church for pilgrims and visitors.

The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem sought to force Christian churches in the city to pay taxes on their property, which the churches saw as an intrusion on their rights as custodians of holy places and a change in the decades-old status quo regarding religious sites.

As a result, the churches decided on Sunday to shut the door to the Holy Sepulcher, the holiest Christian site, in protest against this move.

The municipality and the prime minister of Israel, however, and following local and international condemnation of its act against Christian presence in the Holy City, suspended the taxation decision and decided to form an Israeli committee to look into that decision.

The Palestinian Authority rejected the Israeli suspension decision and called for cancelling it all together.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Israeli decision was "not enough."

"What is required is to preserve the legal and historical status quo of the holy places," he said in a statement, considering the suspension decision as "an attempt (by Israel) to circumvent international criticism."

Abu Rudeineh called for efforts to continue until Israel cancels the decision and not only suspend it.

M.K.