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• CrossFireArabia
• April 16, 2026

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

• CrossFireArabia
• April 9, 2026

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.