OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Tens of thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayers at the Aqsa Mosque, despite the arrests, bans, and tight restrictions imposed by Israeli forces on Jerusalemites and the occupied city.
The Islamic Waqf Department in occupied Jerusalem reported that tens of thousands of worshippers attended the Friday prayers at Aqsa Mosque, dedicating absentee prayers to the souls of martyrs from Gaza and the West Bank.
The Israeli police forces imposed a siege on Jerusalem, erecting military and metal checkpoints around the Old City and Aqsa Mosque, and heavily deploying throughout the city’s streets and neighborhoods.
They stopped dozens of worshippers, especially young men, checking their IDs, and barred many others from reaching the Mosque.
Israeli police arrested former prisoner Imad Al-Abbasi near Bab al-Silsila, one of Al-Aqsa’s gates, and detained and physically searched another young man at Bab al-Maghariba, another Old City gate.
The police forces also assaulted activist Mohammad Abu Al-Hummus while he attempted to pray on Mujahideen Road near Bab al-Asbat, after preventing him from entering the holy site. They forced him out of the Old City.
Aqsa’s Friday preacher, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, urged Muslims to remain steadfast in traveling to Aqsa during Ramadan and throughout the year.
He said, “Aqsa Mosque is a trust from the Almighty upon all of us. It is one of the three holy mosques that one should travel to, alongside the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.”
He added, “O Muslims, during these blessed days of Ramadan, strive to fill Aqsa with worship, acts of obedience, and recitation of the Holy Qur’an.”
He concluded, “Show the Almighty in this blessed month your devotion, your commitment, your good deeds, and your endurance through the trials and hardships of life.”
