JERUSALEM, Feb 28, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Israel said Thursday that it will implement what it called "safety restrictions" at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins over the weekend.

During Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians come to pray at Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam located in East Jerusalem -- a sector of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel.

This year, Ramadan coincides with a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which has largely halted fighting after a devastating war that left tens of thousands dead in the Palestinian territory.

"The usual restrictions for public safety will be in place as they have been every year," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said in an online briefing to journalists.

Last year, amid the Gaza war, Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on visitors coming to Al-Aqsa, particularly on those Palestinians coming from the occupied West Bank.

Only men aged 55 and older and women over 50 were allowed to enter the mosque compound "for security reasons," while thousands of Israeli police officers were deployed across Jerusalem's Old City.

Mencer indicated that precautions would be taken again this year.

"What we cannot, of course, and no country would countenance is people seeking to foment violence and attacks on anyone else," he said, without detailing this year's police deployment.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

By longstanding convention, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray in the compound, which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who publicly prayed there while serving as national security minister in 2023 and 2024.

The Israeli government has said repeatedly that it intends to uphold the status quo at the compound but Palestinian fears about its future have made it a flashpoint for violence.

Last year, Israel allowed Muslims to worship at Al-Aqsa in the same numbers as in previous year despite the war raging in Gaza.