Israel lifts al-Aqsa age ban

For the first time in "months," an Israeli police spokesman said on Friday, the age ban will be lifted on prayers for Muslims at the sacred al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

"No age limit on the Temple Mount, we're hoping things will be calm and quiet today," spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told the AFP news agency, using the Hebrew term for the site also held sacred by Jews.

Rosenfeld added that "extra police units were deployed in Jerusalem to prevent any incidents in and around the Old City," referring to disturbances that have been occurring around the site for months, with violence intensifying in past weeks.

Israeli police had banned young Muslims from entering the mosque compound based on fears that protests would break out in response to a far-right campaign for Jewish prayer rights at the compound surrounding al-Aqsa. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded firmly to that push, saying his government had no plans to change the decades-old "status quo" that allows Jews to visit, but not pray at, the site.

'Firm commitments'

Friday's lifting of the age ban came after joint talks in Amman between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah II, who met unexpectedly to go over ways to lower tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Kerry said "firm commitments" had been made to maintain the status quo regarding access and rules at holy sites in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

"It is clear to me that they are serious about working on the effort to create de-escalation and to take steps to instill confidence that the status quo will be upheld," he said.

glb/mkg (AFP, AP, dpa)