Israeli police said Sunday they were stepping up the security measures in preparation of the unrest widely expected to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls later this week.
Israeli officials cited the increased incidence of incitement by Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad as contributing to the likelihood of rioting and attacks in the coming weeks.
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Israeli officer greets a Palestinian shopkeeper in Jerusalem's Old City
(Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson)
The West Bank has seen a surge in Palestinian violence in recent months, in turn triggering near-daily Israeli military raids.
In previous years, Ramadan has typically seen clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians, particularly around the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem's Old City, a site revered by Muslims as the al-Aqsa Mosque. Ramadan coincides this year with Judaism's Passover and Christianity's Easter.
Meanwhile, Palestinians protested on Sunday in Hebron and Gaza against talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials in Egypt aimed at calming West Bank violence.
"There is a national refusal to hold the Sharm El-Sheikh summit and there is a condemnation for the participation of the Palestinian Authority in this meeting with the Zionist occupation," said a spokesperson of Hamas, a terrorist group committed to the destruction of Israel.
"This meeting encourages the occupation to increase its aggression against the Palestinian people and continue their crimes. It seems that the Palestinian Authority insists on tweeting differently than the national tune. What is needed indeed are international and regional summits to support our Palestinian people against this racist, fascist, and Zionist government."
Earlier Sunday, a Palestinian terrorist shot and seriously wounded an Israeli in Huwara town in the West Bank. Hamas praised the attack.