Israeli authorities have announced plans to deploy 3,000 police officers across occupied East Jerusalem ahead of the first Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.

Security forces will be stationed in key areas throughout the city, including border crossings and the narrow streets of the Old City. Officials anticipate that tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers will gather for prayers at the revered site.

However, Israel has continued to impose entry restrictions on Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, limiting access to Al-Aqsa to only those from East Jerusalem and within Israel.

Palestinians see these measures as part of a wider Israeli effort to alter the city’s demographic and religious identity, particularly in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque. Many view this as a continuation of policies aimed at erasing East Jerusalem’s Arab and Islamic heritage.

Israel took control of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and formally annexed it in 1980—a move that remains unrecognized by the international community.

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