Abbas says suspension of Israeli contacts to continue

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said the suspension of all contacts with Israel, including security coordination, will continue unless the situation in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa returns to normal.

“All Israeli measures in Jerusalem must be removed and the situation in Al-Aqsa should return to how it was before 14 July,” Abbas said at the beginning of a meeting with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.

“All the Israeli measures before 14 July are supposed to be removed immediately,” he said, adding: “We will monitor what happened from that day to the present day and we will act accordingly.”

Anger has spread across the West Bank since last week when Israel shut the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The mosque was reopened after two days, with Israel installing metal detectors and cameras at its gates.

Three Palestinians were killed last Friday in protests against the Israeli measures around the holy site. Three Israelis were also killed in an attack in a settlement in the West Bank.

Israel’s security cabinet decided late on Monday to remove the metal detectors. A statement released after the meeting said a new surveillance system using “smart checks” based on advanced technology would be put in place.

Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque is the Islamic world’s third holiest site after the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madina, Saudi Arabia.