Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army close the West Bank until midnight on Saturday.

Tension is mounting in Jerusalem and the West Bank after a week of disastrous diplomacy and the failure to revive the peace process.

Palestinians have been angered by Israel's decision to build 1,600 new settler homes on disputed land in East Jerusalem.

The announcement came during a visit by American vice president Joe Biden, prompting sharp condemnation from him and the UK, UN and European Union.

Israel apologised for the timing but not for the development plans.

The Palestinians have suspended renewing peace negotiations until the plans are retracted.

Ahead of the West Bank closure, some 3,000 Israeli police were deployed in Jerusalem.

Officers also stopped men under the age of 50 from attending Friday prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, which Israelis call the Temple Mount.

The diplomatic debacle has come at a turbulent time.

There have been demonstrations and rioting after Israel's earlier announcement it would refurbish and renovate two holy places in the occupied West Bank.

Last Friday, scores of Palestinians and a number of Israeli border police were injured after disturbances on the Temple Mount and parts of the Old City.

Making matters worse are swirling rumours about the reconstruction of the Hurva Synagogue in East Jerusalem.

It will be reopened on Monday after being destroyed by Jordanians in 1948.