High alert for protests at Jerusalem renovation site

Israeli security forces tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem’s Old City this morning as the city braced for possible riots during Muslim prayers at the Holy Land’s most contentious religious site.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco told Israel Radio that around 3,000 security officers were posted around the city because of “intelligence indications” that disturbances could erupt over Israeli repair work on an earthen ramp leading to the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.