8th December, 2017
Israeli police in Jerusalem are being deployed in larger-than-usual numbers ahead of the first Friday prayers after U.S. President Donald Trump recognised the city as the Israeli capital.
Israeli Police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said several hundred police officers have reinforced the Jerusalem area, with an emphasis on the Old City, but added that there are no age restrictions on Muslims wishing to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque.
At least 80 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with the Israeli army on Thursday in the West Bank and Gaza.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Islamist militant movement Hamas, based in Gaza, issued a call for a renewed Palestinian uprising to start on Friday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ secular Fatah party was also sharply critical of Trump’s decision.
Jibril Rajoub, a senior Fatah official, warned in an interview with al-Arabiya television that the leadership would refuse to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence later this month.
The BBC reported that the U.S. warned the Palestinians against such a move.
Israel captured the eastern half of Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later annexed the territory in a move that was not internationally recognised.
Palestinians hope for East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.
The city, especially the Old City, is home to sites holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Protests have taken place in locations around the world with more scheduled for Friday after the main Islamic prayer.