Israel blocks thousands from performing Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque

AhlulBayt News Agency: Israeli police forces barred thousands of Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for performing Friday prayer, allowing only a few hundred to access the holy site amid heightened military restrictions across occupied Jerusalem.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that Israeli police officers were deployed heavily around the gates of the Old City and the entrances to Al-Aqsa from the early hours of the morning, turning away large crowds of worshippers seeking to attend the weekly congregational prayer. Only around 450 people were allowed entry, leaving most prayer halls and courtyards eerily empty during what is normally one of the busiest times at the Mosque.

The move comes just two days after Israeli occupation authorities partially reopened Al-Aqsa’s gates following a six-day full closure, which had been imposed under the pretext of “security concerns” related to Israel’s war on Iran. However, access restrictions at Al-Aqsa have been a near-weekly occurrence since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, with Fridays seeing the most severe crackdowns.

Palestinian rights groups and religious leaders have long denounced these policies as part of a broader campaign to erode Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and restrict religious freedom.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces and armed settlers have escalated their attacks across the West Bank, including Jerusalem. Since October 2023, at least 980 Palestinians have been killed, around 7,000 injured, and more than 17,500 arrested in what many rights advocates describe as an intensifying campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The restrictions at Al-Aqsa come against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, where more than 186,000 Palestinians have been martyred or wounded—most of them children and women. Over 11,000 are missing beneath the rubble, while hundreds of thousands remain displaced and face famine-like conditions. The war has drawn international condemnation and calls for accountability, which Israel has largely ignored.

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