OCCUPIED JERUSALEM,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) Tens of thousands of worshipers performed Friday prayers in the courtyards of the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem, despite the tight Israeli restrictions.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem estimated that around 40,000 worshipers attended Friday prayers at Aqsa, amid tight Israeli military measures.
Widespread calls from Jerusalemite activists continued, urging residents of Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories to rally, mobilize, and remain steadfast at the Aqsa Mosque, and to perform Friday prayers there in defiance of the Israeli Judaization schemes.
The calls emphasized the importance of mass mobilization and confronting the occupation’s efforts to reduce the number of worshipers allowed into the Mosque.
They highlighted that intensified presence and continuous prayer at the Aqsa Mosque represent a practical step in resisting the Israeli procedures and in breaking its attempts to isolate the Mosque from its surrounding religious and popular environment.
Activists said that remaining steadfast at Aqsa at this critical moment signifies popular resilience in the face of escalating Israeli aggression. It sends a clear message that the Aqsa Mosque is a red line that cannot be crossed, regardless of the challenges and circumstances.
Desperate attempts to enforce Judaization on the ground
Haron Nasser Al-Din, a political bureau member and head of the Jerusalem Affairs Office in Hamas Movement, affirmed that the increased settler incursions into the Aqsa Mosque are desperate attempts to impose Judaization realities on the ground and to assert full control over the Mosque and the occupied city of Jerusalem.
He stressed that the introduction of Torah symbols, the performance of public rituals in Aqsa, provocative dances, and desecration of graves in the Bab al-Rahma cemetery reflect the criminal and disgraceful nature of the settler mobs, who carry out these violations under the protection and support of the extremist Israeli government.
Nasser Al-Din called on the Palestinian people and the broader Arab and Islamic nations to do everything in their power to protect Occupied Jerusalem, Aqsa, and the Islamic holy sites, and to thwart the Israeli malicious ambitions. He championed exerting all efforts to repel the aggression and cleanse the Palestinian land from occupation.
