Thousands of police were deployed Friday across the Old City of Jerusalem in case of disturbances after Hamas called on Palestinian worshipers to barricade themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.
Police said that in addition to the 3,000 officers and Border Police soldiers, police commissioner Kobi Shabtai, Jerusalem district commanders, and Shin Bet security officials would visit the several command posts set up in the Old City, where they would receive real-time updates on the situation.
In a statement Thursday, Hamas called on followers to “participate urgently in defending Al-Aqsa Mosque against the aggression that lurks in these critical times.”
In past years during Ramadan, Palestinians have barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is situated on the Temple Mount, some with explosives and rocks. Police operations to clear them out have often resulted in violence.
Last year, two consecutive nights of clashes between officers and Palestinians at the mosque sparked barrages of rocket fire from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
This year’s Ramadan comes amid tinderbox tensions stemming from the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the group’s shock October 7 attack, when thousands of terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.
Terror groups have called on Palestinians to come to Al-Aqsa Mosque to confront Israel over the war in Gaza.
Police officers scuffled with some attendees at the entrance to the Temple Mount on the first night of Ramadan on Sunday, but the holy site has been relatively peaceful since.
On Tuesday, police quickly denied claims on social media that barriers being set up aimed to block entry into the Temple Mount. Police have warned terror groups are trying to spread false information about the site to stir up violence.
“In practice, there is no blocking of the gates of the Temple Mount, which is open for the entry of worshipers from all gates. This is maintenance work (replacing old fences with new ones) at the security posts,” police said.
Officials from the Jordanian-backed Islamic trust that administers the Al Aqsa Mosque compound told Haaretz that evening prayers have attracted relatively large crowds of worshipers compared to previous years and that 50,000 were expected to arrive for midday prayers on Friday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged last week that the number of worshipers allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in the first week of Ramadan would be the same as in previous years and that no restrictions would be imposed on Arab Israelis, overruling the wishes of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, an ultranationalist firebrand who oversees the Israel Police.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, has ruled that Palestinian residents’ access to the site for Friday’s prayers will be limited to men over 55, women over 50, and children under 10.
The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, where two biblical Temples once stood, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest shrine in Islam, making the site a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Arab conflict.