Shafaqna English- Thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, arriving in large numbers from Occupied Jerusalem and Palestinian communities within the Green Line despite tightened restrictions and measures imposed by Israeli police forces on access to the Mosque.
Worshipers began arriving at the gates and courtyards of Al-Aqsa early in the morning amid heightened Israeli security measures and a heavy deployment of police forces around the Old City and its entrances. The city of Tamra, in 1948 occupied Palestine, organized two buses to transport residents to Jerusalem to participate in the Friday prayer.
Israeli forces erected military checkpoints along roads leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque, searched Palestinians, and inspected their identification documents, delaying many worshipers and preventing others from reaching the Mosque for prayer.
Friday prayer coincided with the Jewish holiday season, during which Israeli restrictions have been intensified around the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City and the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The restrictions come amid increasing incursions by Israeli settlers into the mosque compound under the protection of occupation forces and attempts to impose new realities at the holy site.
In recent weeks, Palestinian and Jerusalemite calls have intensified for Muslims to travel to Al-Aqsa Mosque, maintain a steadfast presence at the Mosque, and strengthen the Muslim presence there in response to Israeli measures restricting worshipers’ access and imposing tight controls on movement around the Mosque and the Old City.
Sources: Palestinian Information Center