Jerusalem, May 14: Israel’s law and order chief said some Muslims would be denied entry to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday when Palestinians begin mourning the creation of the Jewish state.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told public radio Thursday that police would “thin out the number of worshippers at the Temple Mount” — the Hebrew term for the compound inside the walled Old City which houses the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that some restrictions would be in force during the Friday prayers but he was not immediately able to give details.
A police statement said that officers, reinforced by paramilitary border police, “will deploy from early tomorrow morning in east Jerusalem and in the alleys of the Old City in order to preserve the law and security.”
It said that security forces manning crossing points into annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank would be beefed up and there would be increased checks on vehicles entering the city.
“The police will act firmly to prevent any attempt to disturb public order by anybody,” it said.
An army spokeswoman said that the military was ready for any scenario.
“The army is prepared for any unusual event during the coming weekend,” she said.
The move to limit access to what is the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina, came as the Palestinians were poised to begin a series of marches and demonstrations in the run up to Nakba Day, which will be commemorated on Sunday.
Activists behind a website called “The Third Intifada” have also called for a new uprising, which would see thousands of Palestinian refugees march towards homes which they fled from or were forced out of when Israel was created in 1948.
Palestinian refugees are expected to stage rallies and demonstrations in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Nabil Shaath, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said he was expecting people in neighbouring countries to carry out acts of solidarity with the Palestinians, peaking on May 15, the anniversary of the Jewish state’s foundation by international reckoning.
–PTI