play videoplay video

Video duration 05 minutes 02 seconds 05:02

Analysts said that the security restrictions imposed by the occupation forces on the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque confirm that they did not learn from history, and they pointed out that many confrontations between the resistance and the occupation army occurred because of these practices, including the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.

Thousands of Muslims were able to perform Tarawih prayers on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite the severe restrictions imposed by the occupation forces on the mosque and the Old City.

The occupation police redeployed around the mosque and placed barbed wire adjacent to the mosque from the Lions' Gate side, and tightened restrictions on the occupied city of Jerusalem, according to what was confirmed by the city's mayor, Adnan Ghaith.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Hassan Masoud said - during Al-Jazeera's window from the city of Jerusalem - that worshipers from all over the Palestinian interior flocked in large numbers to the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, noting that about 35,000 of them were able to reach the mosque.

Tightening restrictions

Masoud confirmed that the occupation forces reinforced the barriers, especially at the Lions Gate, and prevented many age groups from entering the mosque, which forced many to pray outside.

Despite the security restrictions, hundreds of worshipers from Jerusalem and the interior gathered at the Damascus Gate area, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Fatima Khamisi, who confirmed that worshipers from the West Bank were prevented from entering the mosque.

Khamaisi said that the activity of selling and celebrating in the region has declined significantly from what it was in previous years, as well as the number of worshipers.

Fadel Tahboub, an expert on Israeli affairs, said that Al-Aqsa Mosque remains a symbol of the conflict between the Palestinians and the occupying state because of its sanctity.

As for political analyst Iyad Al-Qara, he said that the occupying state did not learn from the lessons of history related to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, as many confrontations took place between it and the resistance due to the attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, including the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.

Al-Qara said that Israel did not properly assess the Palestinian threats to respond to these attacks and believed that it would occupy Gaza with itself by providing some facilities to dismantle what is known as the “unit of squares,” which was what bothered it most during the past years.

In turn, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant claimed in a speech on the occasion of the month of Ramadan that Israel respects all the holy sites in the city of Jerusalem, but he warned those who try to test Israel that it is ready to respond, according to him.

Source: Al Jazeera