OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Tens of thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayer at Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem despite heightened Israeli military restrictions at the city’s entrances and along roads leading to the Mosque, as Israeli police forces sought to limit worshipers’ access.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem reported that tens of thousands of worshipers gathered at Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayer despite restrictions imposed on Palestinians arriving from different areas.
Israeli police forces tightened security measures at military checkpoints surrounding Occupied Jerusalem, obstructing worshipers attempting to reach the Mosque. Dozens of young Palestinian men were prevented from continuing toward Aqsa after being stopped at checkpoints and metal barriers deployed around the city and the Old City.
These measures are part of the ongoing restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities on Palestinian access to Aqsa Mosque, further complicating the ability of worshipers to exercise their right to religious freedom.
Despite the restrictions, large crowds of Palestinians made their way to Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayer, demonstrating their determination to maintain their presence at the holy site and exercise their right to worship amid continued Israeli military measures in Occupied Jerusalem and the surrounding Old City.
Calls for Palestinians to maintain their presence at Aqsa
Meanwhile, renewed calls were issued urging Palestinians in Occupied Jerusalem and Palestinian communities inside Israel to travel to Aqsa Mosque on Friday, perform prayer in its courtyards, and maintain a strong presence at the site amid escalating Israeli restrictions and attempts by Jewish settlers to impose a new reality that threatens the Mosque’s religious and historical identity.
Jerusalem-based and Palestinian national groups encouraged Palestinians to intensify their presence at Aqsa and fill its courtyards with as many worshippers as possible, emphasizing the importance of ribat, or maintaining a steadfast religious presence at the Mosque, as a means of preserving its Islamic identity and resisting efforts to alter the existing status quo.
The groups stressed the need for worshipers to arrive at the holy site early in the morning and remain in its courtyards beyond Friday prayer, reinforcing the Palestinian presence in the face of ongoing restrictions and attempts to undermine access to the holy site.
These calls come amid continued Israeli security measures in Occupied Jerusalem and around the Old City, alongside repeated incursions by Israeli settlers into the Aqsa Mosque compound and attempts to perform religious rituals within its courtyards.
Such actions have heightened Palestinian concerns over efforts to establish a new reality at the Mosque and alter its longstanding religious arrangements.
The groups warned that escalating Israeli plans to Judaize Aqsa Mosque and impose temporal and spatial divisions of the holy site require a stronger Palestinian presence to safeguard its Islamic identity and confront attempts by the Israeli occupation to change its character and impose new conditions within its courtyards.
