In Jerusalem, the old city holds its breath on this first Friday of Ramadan. The Israeli government, which has been waging a deadly war in the Gaza Strip for five months, has little interest in a spark igniting the Holy City.
Several tens of thousands of Muslim faithful are expected for midday prayer. Israeli police, in a state of alert, say they want to guarantee ‘free access’ to the third holiest site of Islam. They let it be known that they would not tolerate any demonstration likely to be interpreted as a celebration of the October 7 massacres.