As many as 250,000 Palestinian Muslim worshipers prayed today at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem on the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, according to the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf authority in charge of the holy site.
The massive turnout by worshipers to the holy site in Ramadan coincides with yet strict restrictions by the Israeli occupation authorities on the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank, with only people above 55 and below 12 of age allowed entry into Jerusalem through the Israeli checkpoints separating the holy city from the occupied West Bank.
Temporary Israeli checkpoints were also set up at the entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem, where the mosque is located, to further tighten the restrictions on the entry of Palestinian Muslim worshipers into the compound.
Other Palestinians who were denied entry into the city prayed at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank in protest after they were blocked from entering the holy city.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the global community.
Tensions have been rising across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli military raids into Palestinian cities and towns, which have resulted since the beginning of the year to the loss of 91 Palestinian lives.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency