Israel Police on High Alert as 'Nakba' Events Begin

Israeli security forces were on high alert on Friday for fear of violence as the Palestinians begin marking the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" which befell them following Israel's establishment in 1948.

"The police are on high alert and we have deployed thousands of police officers in and around Jerusalem, as well as in the north," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Agence France Presse.

"Border police and regular units have been deployed in and around the Old City, although we are not on the highest level of alert," Rosenfeld said.

"At the moment, we are not expecting anything but we just want to make sure there are no disturbances on the Temple Mount," he said, referring to the site where the flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound is located inside Jerusalem's Old City.

The site is the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam after Mecca and Medina, and a destination of thousands of Muslims who go there every week for the traditional Friday prayers.

But police said in light of the anniversary, they would restrict access to the mosque to allow in only men over the age of 45 if they were holders of blue Israeli identity papers. There were no restrictions in place for women.

The increased security measures came as the Palestinians and their Arab Israeli kin were poised to begin a series of marches and demonstrations in the run-up to Nakba Day, which will be commemorated on Sunday.

Palestinian refugees are expected to hold rallies and demonstrations in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Israel celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its creation on Tuesday, in accordance with the Hebrew calendar.

More than 760,000 Palestinians -- estimated today to number 4.7 million with their descendants -- were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes in the conflict that followed Israel's creation.