OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers performed Friday prayers at the Aqsa Mosque today, despite heightened restrictions and intensified Israeli measures around and within the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem and the holy site.
According to the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, the worshipers performed Friday prayers and the funeral prayers in absentia for the souls of martyrs in Gaza and the West Bank.
The PIC correspondent reported that Israeli forces erected iron barricades around the Old City and stopped many young men at Bab al-Asbat, Bab al-Sahira, and Bab al-Amud checking IDs and searching personal belongings.
In a further escalation, the road leading to the al-Maghariba Gate was sealed off with iron barriers and red tape, with access denied to all vehicles except residents of the Silwan neighborhood.
Checkpoints were also set up inside the Old City, including on Al-Wad Street, coinciding with the influx of Muslim worshipers heading to Aqsa and Christian pilgrims making their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
