RAMALLAH: Israel has imposed severe restrictions on Palestinian access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan. The holy site is located in occupied East Jerusalem.
According to the Palestinian WAFA News Agency, long lines of worshippers was seen at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, hoping to enter Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities announced that up to 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank would be allowed to visit the site for the day, but only if they held the necessary permits. This number is much lower than the worshipers that have attended the prayer in past years.
The stricter measures follow Israel’s decision to raise its security alert level across the West Bank and Jerusalem at the start of Ramadan. The move comes amid rising tensions linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.
Rights groups report that Israeli authorities have stepped up arrests and expulsion orders in East Jerusalem in recent weeks. Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, there has also been a rise in violence, settlement building, and military raids throughout the West Bank.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces turned back dozens of elderly worshippers at checkpoints in Qalandiya and Bethlehem, saying they lacked the required permits. Sources also reported that four paramedics were briefly detained, and that journalists and medical teams faced obstacles at the Qalandiya crossing.
For Palestinians, Jerusalem holds deep significance during Ramadan, as Al-Aqsa is Islam’s holiest site. Palestinians envision East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. Israel, however, claims all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital.
