Despite the severe occupation restrictions, tens of thousands of Palestinians performed the third Friday prayer of Ramadan in Al-Aqsa Mosque (Reuters)
The Islamic Endowments Department in occupied Jerusalem said that 125,000 worshipers performed the third Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite Israeli restrictions and harassment.
Sheikh Youssef Abu Sneineh, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, condemned in his Friday sermon the international silence regarding the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for about 6 months.
With the end of Friday prayers, worshipers spread out in the courtyards and chapels of the mosque to read the Qur’an and participate in knowledge circles. Thousands of worshipers usually stay in the mosque to eat breakfast and perform Tarawih prayers.
Press coverage: “Part of the supplication for the people of Gaza from Al-Aqsa Mosque before the third Friday prayer of Ramadan” pic.twitter.com/QbwubL9eJe
- Al-Qastal News (@AlQastalps) March 29, 2024
The occupation authorities had deployed their military patrols and soldiers at the military checkpoints, and allowed only specific age groups of the elderly to enter Jerusalem, on the condition that they possess an entry permit within the Green Line.
These restrictions prevented tens of thousands of worshipers from reaching the mosque to perform prayers.
The Israeli occupation forces tightened their procedures in the vicinity of the Old City and at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and prevented young men from the city from reaching the mosque, where they arrested a number of them and subjected them to physical searches.
Worshipers began arriving to pray at Al-Aqsa on Thursday, and the Islamic Endowments Department reported that about 120,000 performed the evening and Tarawih prayers in the mosque.
Hundreds of worshipers retreated to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the night hours, as thousands participated in the dawn prayer in the mosque. After the prayer, hundreds demonstrated in solidarity with the Gaza Strip and in support of the Palestinian resistance.
Hundreds of young men chanting from inside Al-Aqsa squares in support of Al-Aqsa, Gaza, and the resistance, after dawn prayer today, Friday #Jerusalem_Compass pic.twitter.com/hWQYN8wtDj
- Jerusalem Compass (@alqudsalbawsala) March 29, 2024
The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem allows itikaf in Al-Aqsa throughout the last ten days of Ramadan, as it is common knowledge that the Israeli police stop settlers’ raids on the mosque in the last ten days of the month every year since the raids began in 2003.
However, Ramadan this year comes in light of a fierce Israeli war launched by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip, coinciding with a noticeable escalation in raids, arrests, and killing operations carried out by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem.
The war on the Gaza Strip left tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, a humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure and property, which led to Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing “genocide.”
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies