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Hamas has reiterated a call for Palestinians to step up visits to al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel has accused Hamas of “striving to ignite the region during Ramadan”, which begins on 11 March for Palestinians.

The third holiest shrine in Islam is a place of worship for local Muslims.

But the site – also the holiest place in Judaism, known as Temple Mount – is often a flashpoint during flare-ups in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Ramadan is due to begin on Monday for Palestinians with the sighting of the new moon.

Last week, the courtyards of al-Aqsa were calm as I visited, but Palestinian worshippers’ minds were on the war.

“People don’t feel like celebrating and enjoying the regular Ramadan traditions,” said one woman, Ayat, sadly. “This year, they won’t go ahead because of what’s happening in Gaza.”

Hopes that a 40-day ceasefire could take effect by the start of Ramadan have faded although Egyptian sources said mediators would again meet a Hamas delegation on Sunday to try to reach an agreement with Israel.

Israel said on Saturday that its spy chief had met with his US counterpart as it continued efforts to try to release dozens of hostages.

Afterwards the Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement saying Hamas was “holding to its position,” as if it was “uninterested in a deal.”

A framework plan being discussed would see some of the Israeli hostages snatched by Hamas in its deadly 7 October attacks released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an increase in aid, amid UN warnings of famine.

“This Ramadan will be difficult. How will we break our daily fast and eat when we think of our compatriots in Gaza,” commented Abu Nader, who had been following the news, as he crossed al-Aqsa in his mobility scooter.

“We pray to God for better times.”

Israeli police are always visibly dotted around the vast al-Aqsa mosque complex and have officers present at every gate, controlling access.

This weekend, thousands of police have been deployed in the Old City where tens of thousands of worshippers are expected daily at the al-Aqsa mosque.

Since Israel captured East Jerusalem, including this part of the Old City, from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East War and occupied and annexed it, the site has become a prominent symbol of the wider Palestinian struggle.

In 2000, the visit of then Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon to the sacred hilltop was seen as a key trigger for the Second Palestinian Uprising, which Palestinians refer to as the “al-Aqsa Intifada”.

There are often clashes here between Israeli security forces and Palestinian worshippers, particularly during Ramadan.

Tensions also run high whenever there are Israeli nationalist marches in the Old City, and in response to calls from Israel’s far-right to change the long-established, highly sensitive religious status quo rules at the site, which permit Jewish visitors but not Jewish prayer.

In May 2021, heightened tensions in Jerusalem erupted in violence at al-Aqsa. Hamas then fired rockets at Jerusalem, leading to a short war in Gaza and widespread unrest between Jewish and Arab Israelis.

Last year, when Ramadan overlapped with the Jewish Passover holiday, reports circulated that Jewish extremists planned to carry out the ritual sacrifice of a goat on Temple Mount.

Not trusting Israeli police to prevent that, hundreds of Muslims barricaded themselves in al-Aqsa and stun grenades were used against them.

This year, Ramadan does not coincide with any major Jewish holiday.

How this Ramadan plays out depends a lot on events in Gaza as well as the limitations imposed by Israel.

The far-right Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, did call for tight restrictions on Muslim Israeli citizens’ access to al-Aqsa, saying this was to stop Hamas “celebrating victory” while Israeli hostages remained captive in Gaza.

However, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has now rejected the plan.

It is not yet clear how many people will be allowed to reach the site.

On Sunday, Israel said worshippers would be permitted entrance to Temple Mount in “similar numbers to previous years”.

It said “this month and every month” it would allow “safe and proper prayers”, urging people not to listen to false rumours.

During the Gaza war, Israel has largely blocked Palestinians from the West Bank from entering Jerusalem. Typically, large crowds would pass through Israeli military checkpoints to attend Friday prayers during this sacred month.

The Israeli government spokesman, Eylon Levy, insisted that the right decisions would be made to safeguard freedom of worship.

“Ramadan is often an occasion when extremist elements try to whip up and inflame violence. We are working to deter that,” he told the BBC.

“We will continue to facilitate access to the Temple Mount for worship as in previous years, make clear that is our policy and will, of course, work against anyone determined to disturb the peace.”

Next to the gold-gilded Dome of the Rock, I met Dr Imam Mustafa Abu Sway, a member of the Islamic Waqf council, which administers al-Aqsa Mosque or Haram al-Sharif, which the compound is also known as.

“A few years ago, Israel allowed practically everyone who wanted to, to come from the West Bank and there wasn’t one single incident,” the scholar said.

“People do come to worship. They don’t come to disturb the peace. If the Israeli police and security forces leave them alone, everything will, hopefully, be ok.”

This year, even more than usual, the world will be scrutinising what happens in Jerusalem, to see if that is the case.

The Scottish government gave £250,000 to the UNRWA aid agency in November 2023, while the first minister’s parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza.

Mr Kerr said it suggested Mr Yousaf was “prepared to bend the rules” if he had overridden official advice.

That led Mr Yousaf to condemn the claim as an “outrageous smear”.

He also said the decision by the Telegraph newspaper to carry the story was “an Islamophobic attack”.

The Scottish government has said that the funding decision was taken by Mr Yousaf following advice from officials.

The SNP’s deputy leader Keith Brown has now called on Rishi Sunak to block Stephen Kerr from standing as a Westminster candidate at the next general election.

However, Mr Kerr insisted he was absolutely right to question why the £250,000 of funding went to UNWRA when government officials had initially suggested £100,000 to £200,000 should instead go to another aid agency, Unicef.

He told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show: “No-one who watched the trauma that the first minister went through in those days and weeks when his family were stuck, locked, in Gaza… of course there was an issue of personal interest.

“And therefore it’s not wrong in the slightest (to challenge the first minister).

“That being the case, the question is very simple – what happened and why did it happen?”

Mr Yousaf posted a series of messages on social media platform X on Saturday, in which he said the newspaper story was an attempt to link him to terrorism.

He said: “Most of my political life, I’ve battled insinuations from sections of the media desperate to link me to terrorism despite campaigning my whole life against it.

“Due to my faith & race, there will always be those, particularly on the far-right, who will desperately try to “prove” my loyalties lie elsewhere. That I am a fifth columnist in the only country I call home, the country I love and the country I have the privilege of leading.”

The Scottish government said civil servants had presented funding options to the first minister “in the usual way”.

A spokesperson said: “All those options, by definition, were open to ministers to choose. The decision being sought was which option ministers wished to choose.

“The first minister made that decision in the standard way. No ministerial direction was necessary, nor was one ever sought.”

But Stephen Kerr, who sits on Holyrood’s standards committee, maintains the first minister may have breached the Scottish ministerial code.

He said: “I do not regret doing my job as a parliamentarian in scrutinising the work of the Scottish government, including the work of the first minister.

“That is why we we have parliamentarians, that is my job and I will continue doing it.”

The SNP’s deputy leader Keith Brown has said Rishi Sunak should block Stephen Kerr’s bid to become a Tory MP at the next Westminster general election.

He pointed to a recent statement the prime minister made outside 10 Downing Street in which he spoke about trying to stop hatred and division.

Mr Brown also said politicians should “know the consequences of smears like this”.

He told BBC Scotland News: “Anybody looking at the first minister’s social media timeline will see the nature of the racist abuse that he gets.

“And I think this is a scandalous way to try and misrepresent the granting of humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.

“Rishi Sunak, if he is to be taken at his word, should denounce this and should sack Stephen Kerr as a Westminster candidate. He is unfit to be so.”

UNRWA has since been at the centre of controversy surrounding Israeli accusations that members of its staff were involved in the 7 October attacks by Hamas that triggered the fighting.

Several countries, including the UK, have announced a pause in support for the relief agency while an investigation takes place after the allegations emerged in January.

However, those accusations only became known several weeks after the Scottish government funding announcement had been made.

Mr Yousaf said there was “extreme anger” from people in the north east of Scotland at the party’s plans for the oil and gas sector.

Sir Keir Starmer has wants to raise the windfall tax on fossil fuel firms from 75% of excess profits to 78% while also extending it to 2029.

Scottish Labour said the SNP was “siding with the energy giants”.

The proposals have faced criticism from the oil and gas industry.

At the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, Sir Keir promised work in the North Sea oil and gas sector would continue “for decades to come”.

However, the first minister warned that the policy could sacrifice up to 100,000 jobs in the industry.

In a speech at the HM Theatre in Aberdeen, Mr Yousaf said his party would oppose “Labour’s aggressive tax plans for the sector”, describing them as a bid to plug a financial black hole caused by the party’s intention to build new nuclear plants.

He said: “We support a windfall tax in order to protect people during a cost of living crisis.

“But Labour’s plans to increase this to pay for new nuclear power plants in England is plain wrong and will cost tens of thousands, if not more, jobs in the north east.”

He accused the UK Labour leader of “doubling down on austerity” with his plans if the party wins the upcoming general election.

Mr Yousaf said he favoured maintaining the windfall tax at the current 75% level.

The first minister said the SNP wanted to “unleash the potential of Scotland’s green revolution” while supporting jobs in the oil and gas industry.

But he said Labour’s plans would “raid the north-east energy industry” to a loss of some 100,000 jobs.

He said Labour’s decision to “dump” their £28bn pledge and “water down” energy plans showed that Scotland was “not the priority” for Labour.

“Westminster is so broken, so skewed to the right, that even Labour know they can’t win unless they promise to be just as right wing as the Conservatives.”

He said the tax proposals came on the back of Labour announcing it would no longer invest £28bn a year on green policies and it would instead commit to other policies such as wind farms and the clean energy firm GB Energy.

“The SNP will not let the north east go the way that coal and mining towns went under Thatcher – that is exactly what Labour is threatening to do.”

The Scottish Greens said future windfall taxes should be used to fund jobs in renewable energy and speed up the transition from fossil fuels, and not to “bankroll nuclear energy programmes in England or create a smokescreen for further oil and gas exploration”.

However, Labour’s Scottish secretary Ian Murray said Mr Yousaf’s position was “completely incoherent and out of touch”.

“Last year energy giants recorded profits of £33bn while a third of households in Scotland were living in fuel poverty,” he said.

“But after a dizzying series of U-turns, it seems the SNP has decided to side with the energy giants.

“It beggars belief that Humza Yousaf thinks that a person earning more than £28,500 deserves to pay more tax but energy giants earning billions in profits from soaring bills should pay less.”

He said the oil and gas sector would continue to play a “key role” in the UK energy system for decades to come, and Labour’s plans would “ensure” that future jobs and opportunities came to the north east.

The Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said the first minister displayed “breathtaking hypocrisy masquerading as a friend of Scotland’s oil and gas industry when he and the SNP have abandoned it at every opportunity.”

He cited the party’s opposition to new oil and gas licences and its refusal to back the Rosebank development.

Located 80 miles west of Shetland, Rosebank is the UK’s largest untapped oil field and is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil.

Regulators granted development and production approval to owners Equinor and Ithaca Energy in September.

Mr Ross also said Labour’s plans would be “catastrophic” for the region, adding: “You can barely put a cigarette paper between Labour and the SNP on this.”