OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 26 July 2003 — Israeli police restricted access for Muslims yesterday to a Jerusalem site holy to both Jews and Muslims, fearing protests by Palestinians against a decision to allow visits by Israelis and foreign tourists. Police have banned men under the age of 40 from what Jews know as Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram Al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary.

Around a hundred policemen have also been deployed around the Muslim quarter in the walled old city of Jerusalem where the compound is located, according to sources.

Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday, at a meeting attended by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah, denounced the visits to the site which have been taking place under police protection for more than a month.

The meeting, which included representatives from a raft of Palestinian organizations, had “discussed the serious situation in Jerusalem ... especially the concerns over the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” said one official source.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and now a political flash point. A statement issued after the meeting said that “the permission given by the Israeli forces for extremists and settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque is particularly dangerous” given past violence. Arafat also urged Arabs and Muslims to prevent “the danger of Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, the statement added.

Israel’s Minister for Internal Security Tzahi Hanegbi also confirmed that he had decided to continue to authorize organized visits to the site.

Meanwhile, a member of the leadership in the Hamas resistance movement told a rally in the northern Gaza Strip village of Beit Hanoun on Thursday night that the group would like to resume armed attacks to answer alleged Israeli violations of an ongoing cease-fire.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups agreed on June 29 to a three-month conditional cease-fire, or “hudna” in Arabic, under pressure for Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Nizar Rayan, a prominent Hamas leader from the Jabalya refugee camp, addressed a rally in Beit Hanoun to mark the first anniversary of an Israeli strike that killed Sheikh Salah Shehada, commander of the movement’s armed wing. “We are still sticking to Hudna, but Israel continues its attacks on the Palestinians,” Rayan said.