JERUSALEM - Israel remains determined to deny Yasser Arafat burial in Jerusalem, though Palestinian officials say such a generous gesture could go a long way toward building trust destroyed in four years of fighting.

Israel fears acceding to Arafat's request to be buried in Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque would strengthen Palestinian claims to the traditionally Arab sector of the city as a future capital.

One Cabinet minister on Friday said that the holy city is reserved for the burial of Jewish kings, "not Arab terrorists."

Palestinian officials said publicly that it is inappropriate to talk about funeral arrangements as long as their 75-year-old leader clings to life at a Paris hospital. A hospital spokesman said Friday that Arafat was in a coma and "has not gotten worse."

One official said Palestinian leaders are hoping to enlist international support for a burial at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine, which was built on the ruins of the biblical Jewish temples.

The top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem said Arafat requested burial near Al Aqsa when the two met four months ago. The comments by the mufti of Jerusalem, Ikrema Sabri, marked the first official comment on Arafat's burial wishes.

It is not clear if Arafat has left a written will, and Sabri said he was not aware of one.

The way the dispute is resolved could signal how Israel and the emerging Palestinian leadership - Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas - will get along in the future.

Arafat is reviled by many Israelis, and seeing him interred near what is also Judaism's holiest site would draw public outrage. Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said Arafat "will not be buried in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried and not Arab terrorists."

His blunt remarks came despite Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's order to government officials to keep a low profile and avoid antagonizing the Palestinians, though Sharon himself told his Cabinet last week that he would not permit Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem.

Sabri said he didn't expect Israel to honor Arafat's wishes. "The Israelis didn't respect President Arafat alive, and we don't see them respecting him when he's dead," Sabri said.

Israeli security officials said Gaza was the only burial option.

Even a compromise initially floated by army planners - interment in the West Bank suburb of Abu Dis, which offers a view of Al Aqsa - has since been ruled out by the military.

Army officials also oppose burial elsewhere in the West Bank, in part because Palestinian security forces would have trouble protecting the large numbers of foreign dignitaries expected for the event.

Palestinian police function better in Gaza, but a funeral there would still pose a security nightmare for visiting heads of state.