Citizens performed Friday prayers in the streets and near the gates of Al-Aqsa after the occupation prevented them from entering the mosque (Reuters)

On Friday, the Israeli occupation forces set up military checkpoints at the entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem, and prevented large numbers of worshipers from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Islamic Endowments Department stated that the occupation measures prevented thousands of worshipers from reaching the mosque, as the occupation forces stopped citizens, searched them, and prevented them from entering the Old City and reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers.

Israeli restrictions forced hundreds of worshipers to perform prayers in the streets near the Old City, including Lions Gate, Ras al-Amud, and the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, after preventing them from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Despite these restrictions, 13,000 Palestinians were able to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque and perform prayers there.

The occupation has imposed strict military measures in Jerusalem since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, including campaigns of arrest and detention of young men, assaulting them, and restrictions on those who want to reach Al-Aqsa, especially on Friday, amid repeated raids on the mosque by settlers under the protection of the army. Israeli.

Press coverage: Young men perform Friday prayers near the Lions’ Gate in occupied Jerusalem after the occupation prevented them from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque. pic.twitter.com/Pa6ioBbH8u

- Quds News Network (@qudsn) February 2, 2024

Arrests continue

On the other hand, the occupation forces arrested at least 25 Palestinians in the West Bank, including a woman, a wounded man, and children, bringing the number of Palestinian detainees from the West Bank to 6,485 since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

The raids and arrests continue in the cities and camps of the West Bank as part of a broad Israeli escalation since the resistance launched the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle on October 7 last year.

In another context, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday, denounced the call of the extremist Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich to convene the so-called Supreme Planning Committee in order to approve the construction of 7,000 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank, including the final approval of 2,000 settlement units.

Source: Al Jazeera