Israel to deploy 3,000 additional policemen in East Jerusalem ahead of 1st Friday prayer in Ramadan

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Betul Yilmaz

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli police will deploy 3,000 personnel in the occupied East Jerusalem ahead of the first weekly Friday prayer at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

In a Thursday statement, the police said the additional forces will be deployed across the city, especially near its crossings and in alleys of the Old City.

Israel estimates that tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers will attend the weekly prayers on Friday at the mosque.

Last month, Israel placed its forces on high alert and deployed 3,000 forces across the roads leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

Since the start of Ramadan, Israel has restricted the entry of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank into the mosque, allowing only Palestinians from East Jerusalem and Israeli Arabs to access the site.

Palestinians view these restrictions as part of a broader Israeli policy to Judaize East Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

The International Court of Justice declared in July last year that Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East.