Jerusalem – About 80,000 Palestinians held prayers on the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, despite Israeli restrictions that have been strengthened since Monday.
The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said, in a brief statement, a copy of which was sent to Anadolu Agency, that “about 80,000 worshipers performed Friday prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Sheikh Ikrimah Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, praised in his Friday sermon the worshipers’ march to the mosque despite the Israeli restrictions.
He said: “Your blessed march sends a message to those who covet the mosque that it cannot be divided and that it is for Muslims alone, and there is no room for bargaining over it or giving up a speck of dirt from it.”
Sabri called for people to travel to Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying: “In the event of a ban, prayer should be performed at the point where the worshiper has arrived, and he has the reward of praying at Al-Aqsa.”
Al-Aqsa’s preacher criticized “the silence of some Arab and Islamic countries regarding the Israeli war on Gaza and the contentment of some of them with statements of condemnation and denunciation.”
In turn, the Hebrew Broadcasting Corporation (official) reported that “3,000 police were deployed in the city.”
In this context, eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army prevented tens of thousands of worshipers from crossing the checkpoints around Jerusalem to reach Al-Aqsa.
Large Israeli police forces were deployed in the streets of the city, especially the Old City, its alleys and the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, since the morning hours.
Palestinians flocked from Jerusalem and Arab cities and towns in Israel, while regime teams, scouts, Al-Aqsa guards and guards deployed to help the worshipers.
At the end of Friday, the worshipers performed absentee prayers for the souls of the martyrs who fell as a result of Israeli practices in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
On Monday, the Israeli army said, “On Fridays throughout the month of Ramadan, worshipers from the regions of Judea and Samaria (the biblical name for the West Bank) will be allowed to enter Jerusalem, subject to the possession of a valid magnetic (security) permit, and an assessment of the security conditions.”
He added that only male worshipers over the age of 55, and women over the age of 50, as well as children under the age of ten, will be allowed to enter.
Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the police have closed all checkpoints around East Jerusalem to West Bank residents.
In parallel with its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army escalated raids and arrest operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, causing confrontations with Palestinians, resulting in the death of 433 Palestinians and the injury of about 4,700, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
