Abbas freezes Israel contact over holy site dispute

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Friday he was freezing contacts with Israel over new security measures at a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site, after deadly clashes erupted earlier in the day. Abbas said in a speech that the freeze would stay in place until Israel lifted the measures at the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. "I, on behalf of the Palestinian leadership, announce... a freeze of all contacts with the occupation state on all levels until Israel commits to cancelling all the measures against our Palestinian people in general and Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque in particular," Abbas said to applause from Palestinian officials.