Israel heavily restricts Al-Aqsa access for first Friday prayers of Ramazan

JERUSALEM: For the first Friday prayers of Ramazan, Israel has heavily restricted Palestinian access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem. Hundreds of worshippers were seen queuing at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, hoping to enter, according to the Palestinian WAFA News Agency.

Israeli authorities announced they would permit a maximum of 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to visit the holy site for the day, provided they hold the required permits. This figure represents a small fraction of the number of worshippers who have attended in previous years.

The tightened measures follow Israel’s decision to raise its security alert level across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem at the start of Ramazan. This comes amid escalating tensions connected to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Rights groups report that Israeli authorities have also intensified arrests and expulsion orders in occupied East Jerusalem in recent weeks. Additionally, there has been a significant increase in violence, settlement expansion, and military raids throughout the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.

Witnesses stated that Israeli forces turned back dozens of elderly worshippers at the Qalandiya and Bethlehem checkpoints, citing a lack of the necessary permits to access Jerusalem. Sources also noted that four paramedics were briefly detained, while journalists and medical crews faced obstruction at the Qalandiya crossing.

Jerusalem remains the centerpoint for Palestinians as the holiest site for Muslims during Ramazan. Palestinians aim for East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state, while Israel claims that the entire city is its new, undivided capital.