Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai says some 40,000 worshippers are at the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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 mosque during the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.
There are no immediate reports of unrest, but Shabtai says there are still warnings of possible terror attacks.
Far-Right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also visited a police command post set up by the Western Wall ahead of the prayers.
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 Ben Gvir.
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.
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