JERUSALEM: Due to Israeli occupation’s restrictions, only 13,000 worshippers were able to perform Friday prayers today at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem, according to the Islamic Waqf.
The Jordan-run Islamic Waqf department reported that Israeli occupation measures prevented thousands of worshippers from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque. Further, Israeli occupation forces searched many worshipers, restricting their access to the Old City and preventing them from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers.
Simultaneously, military checkpoints were erected and a heightened military presence was noted in Wadi al-Joz and Ras al-Amoud neighborhoods in the vicinity of the holy site.
Consequently, a significant number of worshippers had to perform Friday prayers near the Asbat Gate, one of the main gates of the holy site, and in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood, having been denied access to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Coinciding with the Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 7, Israeli occupation forces have been
significantly reducing the number of Muslim worshipers allowed into the holy site to perform prayers, only allowing residents of the Old City of Jerusalem and a little number of elderly Palestinians from the Arab towns in the 1948-occupied territory to pray there.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA