Three leading Christian clerics in the Holy Land appealed Friday for more European governments to recognize a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The call from the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Lutheran prelates -- all of them Palestinian -- came after EU member Sweden last week announced its intention to recognize Palestinian statehood, to the anger of Israel.

The Palestinian unity government held its first ever meeting in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip on Thursday as its rival factions presented a common front ahead of a major donors' conference.

The gathering came more than four months after the government was sworn in following a landmark reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas.

Israel must play a role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a top U.S. official said Wednesday ahead of key donor talks in Cairo, also pressing all sides to agree a lasting ceasefire.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend Sunday's reconstruction conference being co-hosted in Cairo by Egypt and Norway and billed by the U.S. as a "major humanitarian assistance and reconstruction effort" after the devastating 50-day war between Israel and the Hamas militants who run the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday accused the Israeli government of complicity in allowing Jewish "extremists" into Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound as dozens of Palestinian youths protested against Jews visiting the flashpoint holy site ahead of a religious feast.

"Aggression against the blessed al-Aqsa mosque is increasing, led by settlers and extremists, sponsored by the Israeli government," he said in a statement.

Clashes broke out at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound Wednesday as Palestinians protested against Jews visiting the flashpoint holy site ahead of a religious feast, Israeli police said.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said dozens of Palestinian youths had began throwing stones and firing flares at police once Jewish visitors ascended to the compound on the eve of the week-long holiday for Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles.

Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri condemned on Wednesday the silence over the recent clashes in the Bekaa region of Brital and the bombing of an Israeli patrol in the Shebaa Farms, wondering whether the “Lebanese people should turn a blind eye to Hizbullah's actions.”

He said in a statement that the party's “insistence to adopt such choices, whether they are arbitrary or serve foreign agendas, not only hinder national efforts to combat terrorism and extremism, but they raise questions over the violations of issues that enjoy national consensus.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the explosion that took place on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Tuesday, deeming it a violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

He said that the blast goes against efforts to create a stable and secure environment in southern Lebanon.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Tuesday described the bomb attack that targeted an Israeli patrol in the occupied Shebaa Farms as a message that is “addressed exclusively to Israel,” although it came two days after fierce battles with jihadist militants in Brital's outskirts.

“The bombs were detonated based on the movements of the enemy's troops and this means that the resistance is ready and its eyes are open,” Qassem said in an interview on OTV.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told police chiefs and the Shin Bet security service Tuesday to get tough on violent Palestinian protest in Jerusalem, which has spiked in recent months.

"The prime minister instructed that forces be strengthened in areas of conflict and that they should act aggressively against rioters," his office said after a special meeting of the security chiefs, also attended by Jerusalem's mayor and government legal advisers.

Hizbullah claimed responsibility on Tuesday of a blast on the border between Lebanon and Israel that wounded two Israeli soldiers.

An explosive device targeted an Israeli patrol in the Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon, said the party.