Thousands of police to deploy in Jerusalem’s Old City for last Friday of Ramadan
Large numbers of cops to be on hand for afternoon prayers, Laylat al-Qadr; Iran and proxies to mark Quds Day, with ex-IDF intel chief warning Tehran may launch retaliatory attack
Israeli police were set to be deployed in large numbers throughout Jerusalem’s Old City for the final Friday of Ramadan, with large numbers of worshipers expected to attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque atop the Temple Mount.
Police said some 3,600 officers will guard the area and numerous roads would be shuttered to traffic during the day. An enhanced police presence will also be on hand at night for Laylat al-Qadr, the holiest night of the year in Islam and considered particularly sensitive in terms of security concerns.
Despite heightened worries this year of potential unrest stemming from the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, which was triggered by the group’s shock October 7 attack, Friday afternoon prayers for Ramadan at the Temple Mount have passed peacefully over the past three weeks.
The site 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 perennial flashpoint of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Also Friday, Iran and its allies will commemorate Quds (Jerusalem) Day, which they have marked on the last Friday of Ramadan each year since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, claiming it as an occasion to express support for the Palestinians.
On Quds Day this year, a funeral ceremony will be held in Tehran for several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike in Damascus that Iran has blamed on Israel. Among those killed were the IRGC’s top commander in Syria, leading the Israeli military to go on high alert following Iranian vows of retaliation.
Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli intelligence chief, said Iran might choose Friday to respond to the Damascus strike, either directly or through a proxy.
“I will not be surprised if Iran will act tomorrow. Don’t panic. Don’t run to the shelters,” said Yadlin, now at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center at Harvard University, citing Israel’s aerial defense systems.
“Be tuned for tomorrow and then, depending on the consequences of the attack, it may escalate.”
Agencies contributed to this report.
