Palestinians prepared for Ramadan in sombre mood as Israeli police deployed in force in occupied East Jerusalem and the spectre of war and starvation in Gaza overshadowed the normally festive Muslim holy month as talks to secure a ceasefire stalled. Thousands of Israeli police have been deployed around the narrow streets of the Old City in Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of worshippers are expected every day at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest sites in Islam. Israeli police and extremists have regularly attacked Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramad…