Israel tightens security after Trump plan

Israel stepped up security in occupied Jerusalem's Old City Friday after US President Donald Trump enraged Palestinians with his controversial peace plan, but weekly prayers at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque passed off calmly.

The plan released on Tuesday was seen as heavily biased towards Israel and was angrily rejected by Palestinians, with one of the key bones of contention being its classification of occupied Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital".

Palestinians have long seen the city's eastern sector, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state. Fears of tensions were raised Friday morning when a group of Palestinians protested at the Al-Aqsa compound in occupied east Jerusalem after dawn prayers.

Israeli police "responded and dispersed the gathering," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding the protesters had chanted "nationalist" slogans. But noon prayers, when more than 30,000 Palestinians attended the mosque, passed without incident, religious officials and AFP journalists said.

The weekly prayers have previously been a rallying point for demonstrations. The Trump plan gives Israel the green light to annex the strategic Jordan Valley - constituting some 30 percent of the West Bank - and all Israeli settlements, which number more than 200, including those in annexed east Jerusalem.

The settlements are home to some 600,000 Israelis, but are considered illegal under international law. Britain on Friday cautioned Israel against "any such unilateral moves", saying they would be "damaging to renewed efforts to re-start peace negotiations, and contrary to international law".

"Changes to the status quo cannot be taken forward without an agreement negotiated by the parties themselves," the UK foreign office said in a statement. After Trump presented the plan, flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials said they would swiftly submit an annexation bill to cabinet on Sunday.

But the situation seemed less clear Friday, after Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said a decision would be best left until a new Israeli government has been formed after March 2 polls. The acting head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Christian Saunders, said Friday that Palestinians were in a "state of shock" over the US plan.