ISRAEL TO DEPLOY THOUSANDS OF POLICE TO JERUSALEM

Israel’s police force said it will deploy thousands of officers across Jerusalem’s Old City for Ramadan’s first Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque, with tensions high amid the Gaza war.

“We are prepared for Friday prayers with more police officers.

Thousands of them will be in the area of Temple Mount,” police spokeswoman Mirit ben Mayor told reporters, using the Jewish name for the Al-Aqsa mosque site.

Hundreds of police officers had already been deployed in the Old City in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Ramadan began on Monday, she said.

Ben Mayor said up to 25,000 worshippers had already visited the mosque for prayers during the Muslim fasting month of fasting without any incidents.

Asked about clashes that reportedly occurred between police and worshippers on Sunday, government spokeswoman Tal Heinrich said: “We are on high alert”.“It’s no secret that extremists, terrorist organisations like Hamas and (Palestinian) Islamic Jihad are trying to inflame the region,” she told the news conference.