VATICAN CITY- Pope Benedict XVI Sunday voiced "deep sadness" over clashes in occupied East Jerusalem where Israel had defied international pressure with a plan to step up construction. "I am deeply saddened by the recent clashes and tensions that have arisen once again in this city that is the spiritual home of Christians, Jews and Muslims," Benedict said after reciting his weekly Angelus prayer. He urged "those responsible for the fate of Jerusalem to take the path of peace with courage and to follow it with perseverance". Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ruled out US-brokered indirect peace talks with Israel unless it halts settlements and urged his Arab peers to "rescue" Jerusalem. Abbas accused Israel of seeking to wipe out the Arab identity of Jerusalem through "ethnic cleansing" and insisted that Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem must be the capital of any future Palestinian state.