Won't accept temporal division of al Aqsa, says Palestine

Palestinians won't let pass the Israeli measures in Jerusalem and the Israeli scheme for the temporal division of Al Aqsa Mosque, President Mahmoud Abbas said here on Wednesday.

Abbas made remarks at a meeting he held at his office with Palestinian leaders from east Jerusalem, and added that "there will be no Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital," Xinhua reported.

"Al-Aqsa Mosque is ours and all other Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. They (Israelis) don't have the right to dirty it with their feet, we will never let them do it and we will do our best to protect Jerusalem," said Abbas.

Abbas stressed that the Palestinians would knock at every door and they will raise the voice of Jerusalem loudly, adding: "I'm not very much worried that something bad would happen to Jerusalem".

Relative calm dominated the eastern part of the city on Wednesday following three successive days of fierce confrontation between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police forces.

The Palestinians have concerns that the Israeli measures in eastern Jerusalem and against the worshippers at al Aqsa Mosque were all aimed at a temporal dividing of the mosque compound between Muslim and Jewish worshipers.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, the capital of their Palestinian state, while Israel says all the city is the eternal capital of the state of Israel.

Although Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1968, the international community still does not recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel.