Israeli police have flooded East Jerusalem before the funeral of a Palestinian teenager believed killed by Israelis and the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, who was kidnapped and found dead on Wednesday, was to be buried in East Jerusalem's Shuafat neighbourhood after the noon (1900 AEST) prayers, as tensions run high after two days of violence.
Israeli commanders, meanwhile, waited to see if statements by Israeli leaders promising to "meet quiet with quiet" would bring a halt to the latest flare-up of violence on the Gaza border.
Media reports spoke of a possible truce after a week of militant rocket fire into southern Israel and retaliatory air strikes against Gaza.
There were no official statements from Israel or its Hamas foe in Gaza, and the army reported that four rockets were fired at Israel on Friday morning. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system and at least two hit open ground.
The Jerusalem Post quoted "a senior security source" saying it will become clear on Friday if Hamas is ready for a ceasefire.
"We'll see what the bottom line is," the source said. "Whether Hamas understands our message within 24 hours."
News website Ynet quoted a senior security source as saying: "The ball is in Hamas's court. We told Hamas that quiet will be answered with quiet and that if there is no quiet, they will suffer a very hard blow.
"The message is very clear and was conveyed in a very clear way."
In Israeli-annexed Arab East Jerusalem "thousands of police were deployed this morning ... to maintain security", ahead of Abu Khder's funeral and Friday prayers, a police statement said.
Tens of thousands of worshippers were expected to head for the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque complex for the main weekly prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP that following a late-night situation assessment, police commanders decided to limit access by men to the complex to those over 50 years of age. There were no restrictions on women, he said.
After the prayers, Abu Khder's funeral was to be held in Shuafat, a day later than originally planned after his body was held so that pathologists could complete an autopsy.
Many believe he was killed in revenge for the abduction and murder in the occupied West Bank in June of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were found on Monday.
Israeli police say the motive for Abu Khder's killing is still unclear, and have not said how he died.
In Shuafat and other parts of East Jerusalem, Palestinians clashed with police for a second straight day on Thursday, hurling rocks and fireworks at Israeli police and burning tyres.
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