By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
Israeli police deployed additional forces Sunday around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, Anadolu news agency reported.
The deployment comes as thousands of Palestinians prepare to perform the Tarawih, special night prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on Sunday.
According to Israeli Channel 12, the police deployment comes amid concerns of a security flare-up in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank during Ramadan.
Text messages were sent to the phones of Jerusalem residents warning against involvement in any unrest, the broadcaster said.
Leaflets were also distributed in the eastern neighborhoods of East Jerusalem warning residents against “riots” during Ramadan, according to the channel.
Israeli occupation forces obstruct Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray, despite tomorrow marking the first day of Ramadan in occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/PIqyJRUS84
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 10, 2024
Tensions continue to escalate in the West Bank and East Jerusalem ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
In an internal document sent to Israeli defense officials, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “explicitly” warned “of a potential increase in security tensions throughout the West Bank’” during Ramadan, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported a few days ago.
In parallel with the war in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army escalated its incursions into cities, towns and refugee camps in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, starting on October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza.
Israeli settler groups, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, storm Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Israeli forces are increasing their presence in the city ahead of Ramadan to hinder Palestinian Muslims from visiting and praying in the… pic.twitter.com/t938P32Fj6
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 10, 2024
Gaza Genocide
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 31,045 Palestinians have been killed, and 72,654 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(PC, MEMO)
