Israel’s police force said it will deploy thousands of officers across Jerusalem’s Old City for Ramadan’s first Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with tensions high amid the Gaza war.
“We are prepared for Friday prayers with more police officers. Thousands of them will be in the area of Temple Mount,” police spokeswoman Mirit ben Mayor told reporters, referring to the holy site upon which the mosque sits.
Hundreds of police officers had already been deployed in the Old City in since Ramadan began on Monday, she said.
Ben Mayor said up to 25,000 worshippers had already visited the mosque for prayers during the Muslim fasting month of fasting without any incidents.
“We will do everything to enable this Ramadan to be quiet,” she told a news conference.
Asked about scuffles that occurred between police and worshippers on Sunday, government spokeswoman Tal Heinrich said: “We are on high alert.”
“It’s no secret that extremists, terrorist organizations like Hamas and (Palestinian) Islamic Jihad are trying to inflame the region,” she told the news conference.
Last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Muslim worshippers would be allowed to access Al-Aqsa Mosque in the same numbers as in previous years during the first week of Ramadan.
“Every week there will be a situation assessment in terms of security and safety and a decision will be made accordingly,” it said.
Palestinians coming to the Temple Mount from the West Bank were expected to face some restrictions, police said in a statement.
Only men aged 55 and older and women over 50 from the territory would be allowed to enter the mosque compound “for security reasons,” government spokesperson Ofir Gendelman said.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had recently called for stricter restrictions on Palestinian residents of the West Bank, saying they “should not be allowed” entry to Jerusalem to pray during Ramadan, but was rebuffed by Netanyahu.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, while the Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, where the two biblical temples stood. The Islamic waqf that manages the site technically falls under Jordan’s authority, though Israel is in charge of security in and around the complex.
Clashes often erupt at the site between Muslim worshippers and Israeli security forces.
On Tuesday, the Kan public broadcaster published figures showing police have foiled 38 planned attacks in the Jerusalem area since October 7, including 12 since the start of the year.
The report also said 21 people have been arrested in Jerusalem in recent weeks on suspicion of incitement, with indictments filed against six of them.
This year Ramadan comes with Israel engaged in an ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered by the Palestinian terror group’s shock onslaught in which some 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 253 taken hostage.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 31,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some 13,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 gunmen inside Israel on October 7.