JERUSALEM: Israeli occupation forces attacked worshipers today near the Al-Asbat Gate, one of the main entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, preventing many of them from entering the mosque for prayers.
Local sources reported that the Israeli forces set up checkpoints at the entrances to the holy site, where they stopped several worshipers, conducted searches, and barred many of them from entering for the weekly Friday prayers.
Additionally, the forces physically assaulted a young man and a woman, leading to the woman fainting, before detaining both of them along the road leading to the Al-Asbat Gate.
The Islamic Waqf Department noted that despite the Israeli restrictions, nearly 20,000 worshipers performed the Friday prayer within the precincts of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque despite significant restrictions on the entry of worshipers.
A group of youth resorted to performing the Friday prayer in the Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood in the vicinity of the Mosque due to their prohibition from acces
sing the holy site.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA