Palestinian leader suggests Jews should be barred from holy site

A Palestinian demonstrator burns the Israeli flag, invoking the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, where Israel is limiting access to Palestinian worshippers, as he and others hold a rally in Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (The Associated Press)

Palestinians chant slogans invoking the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, where Israel is limiting access to Palestinian worshippers, while holding a rally in Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (The Associated Press)

A boy carries a wreath with posters with a photo of slain Palestinian boy Baha Samir Bader, 13, ahead of his funeral procession at the village of Beit Lykia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Friday, Oct. 17, 2014. Palestinian police said that the boy has been shot dead by Israeli soldiers during a clash in the village. Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have spiked in recent days amid Palestinian charges that Israel is limiting access to Palestinian worshippers at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site. The poster reads the slain boy's name in Arabic and "a sacrifice for Palestine and the al-Aqsa mosque." (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) (The Associated Press)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suggested Jews should be banned from a holy site revered by both Jews and Muslims.

Abbas made the comments following recent clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli forces over what Palestinians see as Jewish encroachment on the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Abbas said Jews should be prevented from entering the site "by any means," adding that "this is our Noble Sanctuary... they have no right to enter and desecrate it."

Palestinians also say Israel is unfairly restricting access at the site. Israel limited male Muslim worshippers this past week to those 50 years old and older due to recent violence there.

The site is the holiest in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.