RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian president has been speaking in increasingly belligerent tones in recent weeks, accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and calling on Palestinians to defend a contested Jerusalem holy site “by any means.”

The heightened rhetoric is a departure for the normally staid Mahmoud Abbas — and an apparent sign of desperation as he tries to halt a slide in his own popularity following this summer’s war between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas in Gaza.