Israeli police beef up presence in Jerusalem, fearing unrest

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's national police chief on Saturday announced that he was beefing up forces in Jerusalem ahead of expected disturbances in the coming days following a night of heavy clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in the holy city.

Palestinian medics said more than 200 Palestinians were wounded in the Friday night clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and elsewhere in Jerusalem. The violence drew condemnations from Israel's Arab allies, and calls for calm from the United States and Europe.

Israel has been dealing with the heaviest unrest in Jerusalem in several years, with near-nightly clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters throughout the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The protests broke out at the beginning of Ramadan three weeks ago when Israel restricted gatherings at a popular meeting spot outside Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel removed the restrictions, briefly calming the situation, but protests have reignited in recent days over the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem, which is claimed by both sides in their decades-old conflict.

Other recent developments, including the cancellation of Palestinian elections, deadly violence in which a Palestinian teenager, two Palestinian gunmen and a young Israeli man were killed in separate incidents in the West Bank, and the election to Israel's parliament of a far-right Jewish nationalist party, also

It was unclear what set off the violence at Al-Aqsa, which erupted when Israeli police in riot gear deployed in large numbers as thousands of Muslim worshippers were holding evening prayers at the sprawling hilltop esplanade.

Throughout the night large groups of protesters could be seen hurling rocks as Israeli police fired rubber...