3000 Morning Pray at Al Aqsa After a 40-day Forced Closure

Israel has reopened Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque to Palestinians after a 40-day closure, as large crowds flocked to the holy site to pray, expressing joy following the unjustified closure.

More than 3,000 Palestinian worshippers performed the dawn (Fajr) prayer at the holy site for the first time since the start of the US-Israeli assault on Iran on 28 February.

Videos circulating on social media show the reopening of the mosque’s gates, with large crowds entering its courtyards.

Videos also showed volunteers and mosque custodians cleaning and preparing the site to receive worshipers.

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Israel has barred Muslim worshipers from accessing Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque since the start of the ongoing Israeli-US assault on Iran, marking a total closure of one of Islam’s holiest sites not seen since the start of the occupation in 1967 and raising concerns over Israeli plans to impose further restrictions and tighten control over the compound.

No exceptions have been made for Muslims, even during Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month, or the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Meanwhile, it allowed settler incursions into Islam’s third-holiest site on Sunday. Up to 50 settlers were permitted to visit the Al-Buraq Wall, which is part of the walls of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex and known to Jews as the Western Wall. The settlers attended traditional prayers as part of the Passover holiday, held in a covered space by the Western Wall plaza. 

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Israeli occupation authorities have also resumed near-daily incursions by Israeli settlers into Al-Aqsa following its reopening, while extending their duration.

Dozens raided the site from 6:30am local time, shortly after Muslim worshipers were cleared from the site following dawn prayers.

They were seen performing Tamudic rituals, praying, singing and dancing while backed by forces. 

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Before the war, such incursions took place in two shifts on weekdays: from 7am to 11am and from 1:30pm to 2:30pm. Under a new schedule approved before the war on Iran, raids now run from 6:30am to 11:30am and from 1:30pm to 3pm, totalling six and a half hours daily.

The Jerusalem Governorate described the extension as a “dangerous escalation” that further undermines the status quo.

“The extension reflects an acceleration in efforts to impose new realities at Al-Aqsa Mosque and entrench time-based division, particularly following its reopening after a 40-day closure,” it said.

Tomorrow will be the first Friday since the closure, during which the holy site was shut for five Fridays according to the Quds News Network.

  • CrossFireArabia

    CrossFireArabia

    Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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    Palestinians Remember The Eveil Nakba

    Dozens of Palestinian women at a displacement camp in central Gaza marked the 78th anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe) on Thursday, reliving scenes of displacement and loss they said continue to define Palestinian life decades after 1948.

    Held at the Refaat Alareer camp in the Al-Zawaida area, the event linked memories of the historic Palestinian displacement with the reality of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, as participants said the suffering of exile and forced displacement had never truly ended.

    The event was organized by the Sameer Project, a relief initiative led by Palestinians in the diaspora, and featured heritage performances, traditional dabke dancing and symbolic scenes highlighting Palestinian identity and the right of return.

    Women and children raised Palestinian flags, symbolic keys, and images reflecting displacement and attachment to the land. Several participants wore traditional Palestinian dresses and chanted songs and national hymns invoking Palestinian memory and what they described as an ongoing Nakba.

    Palestinians commemorate the Nakba every year on May 15 through marches, exhibitions and public events in the Palestinian territories and around the world, calling for rights, including the return of millions of refugees.

    The Nakba refers to the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948 during the events surrounding the creation of Israel, when hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages were emptied and their residents forced to flee.​​​​​​​

    Reliving displacement

    Ibtisam Abu Muailiq, a displaced Palestinian now living in Al-Zawaida, said Palestinians are still living through the Nakba today.

    The current war, she told Anadolu, had brought back scenes of displacement and tent life that previous generations described after the events of 1948.

    “Our home was destroyed, and we lost loved ones, some killed and others still missing, but we remain steadfast on the land of Palestine,” she said.

    She called on people around the world to show compassion toward Palestinians and support them amid their suffering.

    For Umm Mohammed Abdullah, the Nakba never ended.

    Palestinians, she said, have endured repeated cycles of hunger, thirst, displacement and loss but continue to hold on to their land.

    “No matter how severe the suffering becomes, we will not leave our homeland,” she added.

    Steadfast despite war

    Event coordinator Iman Al-Khatib said holding the event inside a displacement camp carried a message that Palestinians remain steadfast despite wars and catastrophes.

    “We wanted to tell the world that Palestinians remain resilient and that the right of return will continue to live in the conscience of future generations,” she told Anadolu.

    The Israeli army has killed more than 72,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 172,000 in a two-year war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

    Despite a ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, the Israeli army has continued its attacks, killing at least 856 people and injuring 2,463 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

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