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Unrest fears in Jerusalem
28/09/2007 12:10 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israel deployed 4 000 police throughout Jerusalem on the third Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, preparing for a possible backlash from Gaza strikes earlier in the week, police said.
The heightened presence comes as tens of thousands of Muslim faithful were expected to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jews were to hold a funeral for a revered rabbi who was a key figure in the religious settlers movement.
The 96-year-old former Ashkenazi grand rabbi of Israel, Avraham Shapira, considered to be the spiritual mentor of the movement, died on Thursday in Jerusalem and was to be buried on the Mount of Olives east of the Old City.
Police are also on heightened alert after Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in 24 hours earlier this week, prompting the Islamist Hamas movement to warn of retaliation.
Police will be barring nearly all Palestinians from the West Bank from the city, although officials indicated they may allow men over the age of 40 and women over 35 to enter.
The rules will not affect the more than 200 000 Arab residents of East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed following the 1967 war.
The Al-Aqsa mosque, at the heart of the Old City, is the holiest site in the world for Jews and the third holiest site for Muslims, and has been a frequent flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For Jews it is the site of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, while for Muslims it is the place where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.
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