Security forces were gearing up Friday morning for anticipated violence ahead of Friday prayers in Jerusalem, following a 48-hour period that saw seven stabbing attacks on Israelis throughout the country.<br />Thousands of troops were set to be deployed in Jerusalem's Old City and throughout the West Bank in a bid to quell the spate of attacks that swept Israel in the past week, in which dozens of Israelis were injured and two men - Aharon Banita and Nechemia Lavi - were knifed to death in Jerusalem.<br />Police on Thursday announced that restrictions would be imposed on male Muslim worshipers seeking to enter the Temple Mount as they set up metal detectors around the Muslim Quarter.<br />Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Thursday encouraged all Israelis with a gun license to carry a weapon with them at all times in order to counter the recent wave of attacks.
