First Friday prayers of Ramadan pass quietly in tense Jerusalem
Police to adhere to plan for bolstered security in capital as Shavuot nears, stressing desire to uphold freedom of worship
The first Friday prayers of the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan passed quietly in the Old City of Jerusalem, two days after a Palestinian terror attack in Tel Aviv killed four Israelis.
Security forces in Jerusalem were on high alert Friday, with thousands of police, Border Police and volunteer officers patrolling the narrow and winding alleyways of the Old City as well as the neighborhoods and villages of predominantly Arab East Jerusalem.
Despite the relative calm day, police are continuing with plans for bolstered security in the capital, Channel 2 reported. The plans include extra police on routes used by worshipers to reach the Western Wall, in particular during the upcoming Jewish festival of Shavuot, which begins Saturday night.
According to Israel Police, the plans are intended to maintain public order while allowing freedom of worship.
Police had been bracing for disruptions at the close of prayers on the flashpoint Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and said that they would act determinedly against anyone who attempted to breach the peace.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians attended Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa, despite new restrictions on movement announced after the deadly Sarona Market attack in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
In an initial Israeli response to the Tel Aviv shooting, the Defense Ministry’s civil administration in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, said early Thursday that it had frozen 83,000 permits for Palestinians in the West Bank to visit relatives in Israel during Ramadan. Special Ramadan permits were also suspended for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to travel out of the territory to attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Access to the mosque for West Bank Palestinians who had received advance permits, however, was unchanged.
The army also announced that it had deployed two additional battalions — comprising hundreds of troops from infantry and special forces units — to the West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said late Thursday that it was sealing off the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the Shavuot holiday, with the closure beginning overnight Thursday-Friday and lasting until late Sunday night, when the holiday ends.
“In accordance with government directives and the ongoing situation assessment, as of today crossing from the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) will be open to Palestinians only in medical and humanitarian cases,” an IDF spokesperson said on Friday.
She said that the closure would remain in force until midnight Sunday.
While the move is among a slew of measures imposed in response to the deadly terror attack at the Sarona Market, the army generally seals off the West Bank on Jewish holidays.
Wednesday’s shooting, carried out by two West Bank Palestinians, was among the deadliest and most brazen attacks since violence erupted last October.
The two terrorists were named in Palestinian media reports as cousins Muhammad and Khalid Muhamra. One of the men was shot by a security guard after the attack and was seriously injured; the second was arrested by police and taken in for questioning. Both came from the West Bank town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
AFP contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.