The largest number of worshipers have been able to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the war on Gaza (Anatolia)
About 25,000 Palestinian worshipers were able to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers despite Israeli restrictions and attacks on worshipers, especially at Lions Gate.
Anadolu Agency quoted an official in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, who preferred not to reveal his name, saying, “This is the largest number of worshipers who have been able to pray in the mosque since the beginning of the war” on October 7.
The Israeli police continued to impose restrictions on worshipers’ access to the mosque.
The occupation forces set up barriers at the entrances to the Old City, and prevented thousands of worshipers from entering to reach the mosque.
It also set up barriers at the external entrances to Al-Aqsa Mosque, preventing young men from passing except in a few cases. Large police forces were deployed in the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem.
After the end of the prayer, the worshipers performed absentee prayers for the souls of the martyrs in Palestine.
Assaults
In this context, the Israeli occupation forces attacked worshipers who tried to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers.
Scenes broadcast by local platforms showed the occupation forces assaulting a Palestinian woman in the Lions’ Gate area, pushing her towards the wall, and physically searching her.
Dozens of worshipers who were prevented from praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque performed prayers in the streets near the mosque and the Old City.
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli police have imposed restrictions on the entry of worshipers into Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially on Fridays.
Until last Friday, only about 5,000 people were able to perform prayers every Friday, but the number rose last Friday to 12,000.
Storming and burning in the West Bank
Not far from Jerusalem, Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Faqoua in the Jenin Governorate, northeast of the West Bank.
Local platforms broadcast scenes showing the occupation forces firing gas bombs during their storming of the town.
Today, Friday, Israeli settlers burned a house, a vehicle, and a barn for raising sheep in the Palestinian village of “Kisan,” east of the city of “Bethlehem,” in the south of the West Bank.
The head of the village council in Kisan, Musa Abayat, stated that the village has been subjected to escalating attacks by settlers since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Peace Now estimates that more than 700,000 settlers reside in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving as of Friday morning 28,775 martyrs and 68,552 injured.
The West Bank is witnessing a wave of tension and field confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli occupation army, interspersed with raids and arrests of Palestinians, in conjunction with the aggression on the Gaza Strip, which left tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded civilians, most of them children and women.
Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia