60,000 Hold Friday Noon Prayers in Al Aqsa

Tens of thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is despite the restrictions and tightened measures imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on those entering the mosque.

The Islamic Waqf Department reported that 60,000 worshippers performed Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards.

Hundreds of worshippers flocked to Al-Aqsa to perform the Friday prayers from the vicinity of the Old City of Jerusalem. As well, buses carrying dozens arrived from within the occupied territories to pray and maintain a presence at the mosque.

Read also: 1,552 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in the first week of June

Palestinian calls have continued for the mobilization and travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid escalating incitement by extremist Temple Mount groups to carry out large-scale incursions into the mosque.

The occupation police checked the IDs of those entering and imposed restrictions, turning back dozens of worshippers, while allowing entry to the elderly after stringent procedures.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound witnessed a dangerous escalation in Israeli violations last May. This was manifested in the expansion of rituals and the increased public performance of Jewish religious rites and ceremonies within its courtyards, along with repeated attempts to impose new realities related to Israeli claims of “sovereignty” over the mosque.

A total of 7,244 settlers stormed the compound, coinciding with the entry of another 2,690 under the guise of “tourism,” amidst escalating incitement by Temple Mount groups calling for intensified incursions, the introduction of sacrifices, and the imposition of Talmudic rituals.

The escalation during May was not limited to the increased number of intruders and the frequency of incursions, but extended to an unprecedented expansion of public Jewish religious rites and ceremonies within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as part of ongoing attempts to impose new realities there.

The period in question witnessed an increasing participation of Israeli officials in the incursions, including ministers, Knesset members, and the head of the Knesset’s National Security Committee, indicating escalating political and governmental support for the incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the ongoing changes there. Sanad