RAMALLAH, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh on Sunday held the Israeli government responsible for "settlers' incursions" into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

In a statement published by official news agency WAFA, Rudeineh said Abbas is holding contacts with "all relevant parties to stop the Israeli escalation" against the Palestinian people and holy sites, warning Israel not to "transform this conflict from a political one into a religious one."

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to the Jewish people as the Temple Mount, is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

This year, the Islamic festival coincides with the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, which sees an increased number of Israeli visitors to the holy site in Jerusalem.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is one of the most volatile sites in the region.

Under a long-held status quo, Israeli Jews are allowed to visit the site but not to pray there.

In recent years, ultra-nationalist Israeli Jews have been challenging the status quo, demanding the government increase the numbers of Jewish visitors to the site and allow prayers.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state, while Israel wants all Jerusalem to be its eternal capital.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and declared the entire city as its eternal indivisible capital in 1980, a move that has never been recognized by most of the international community. Enditem

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