PARIS: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Tuesday that there was a risk of a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, erupting if violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem did not ease and peace talks with Israel did not resume.

Israeli-Palestinian strife has risen sharply in recent weeks as Arab states and Palestinians have accused Israeli forces of violations at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“We spoke about what’s happening at Al-Aqsa,” Abbas told a news conference after meeting French President Francois Hollande. “It’s extremely dangerous. We don’t want it to continue and (if it did) the alternative would be chaos or an intifada (uprising) that we don’t want.”

Abbas called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order an end to Israeli actions in Jerusalem’s Old City where al Aqsa is located, stop continued settlement activity in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and return to the negotiating table.

“We consider the only way to reach peace is through negotiations,” he said. The talks collapsed in April 2014.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian died while handling an explosive device and another was shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Tuesday as tensions rose ahead of major religious holidays for Jews and Muslims.

Both incidents occurred in the Hebron area of the southern West Bank ahead of the Yom Kippur and Eid Al-Adha holidays.

Jerusalem remained calm, but was under tight security, with thousands of police officers deployed and authorities closing off the city to residents of the occupied West Bank.

On Monday night in the village of Dura near Hebron, a Palestinian was killed by an explosive device he intended to toss at a military vehicle, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. Residents provided a similar account.

Palestinian security officials however said he was shot dead by Israeli troops. They named him as Dia Al-Talahmeh, 21.

Separately on Tuesday morning, Israeli troops shot and wounded a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint near the center of Hebron, witnesses said. The Israeli military said she had attempted to stab a soldier.