Palestinian foreign minister: Israel wants a third intifada

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki on Monday accused Israel of seeking to spark "a third intifada" as violence again flared in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu wants to instigate a third intifada. He wants to avoid problems that he is facing in the political and diplomatic arena, where he has failed miserably," Malki told AFP in Vienna.

Malki said Netanyahu had committed a "grave mistake" by "violating the status quo" of East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound, one of Islam's holiest sites and the holiest site in Judaism.

The site has been a flashpoint in the conflict and the scene of frequent clashes between police and Palestinian youths.

"Netanyahu is widening the scope of the conflict from a political one with the Palestinians - which always has a possibility of finding a political solution - to an unlimited war with Muslims around the world," Malki warned.

Calling on Israel to act "according to international law", he said there was nevertheless still "a possibility to contain" the crisis.