Jerusalem Archives - CrossFireArarbia

100,000 Perform Friday Prayers in Al Aqsa

CrossFireArabia
February 28, 2026

About 100,000 performed the Salat prayers in Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque on the second Friday during the holy month of Ramadan. Palestinians from the occupied city of Jerusalem and the West Bank flocked to the mosque compound despite the severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation forces. Despite the checkpoints – Qalandia and the one leading to Bethlehem – 1000s of Palestinians began to assemble in the city since the early morning. Israeli soldiers checked the ID cards of those attempting to enter the city, banning men below the age of 55, and 50 for women from going through the checkpoints. It was reported that anyone below those ages – reportedly 100s of Palestinians – were turned back.

News

50,000 Perform Isha, Taraweeh Prayers in Al Aqsa

CrossFireArabia
February 22, 2026

Approximately 50,000 worshippers performed the Isha and Ramadan Taraweeh prayers, Sunday, evening at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, despite restrictions and heightened measures imposed by the Israeli occupation on worshippers’ access.

The Jerusalem Governorate said in a brief statement that tens of thousands of worshippers flocked to Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed the prayers in a spiritual atmosphere, despite Israeli military checkpoints and identity checks at the mosque’s gates.

Israeli forces have intensified their military presence in Jerusalem and its surroundings, including at the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in an attempt to restrict worshippers’ access.

According to the Governorate, over the past few days, more than 300 Jerusalemites were handed orders barring them from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, according to Wafa.

News

Trump on Gaza ‘Board of Peace’

CrossFireArabia
January 12, 2026

US President Donald Trump is expected to name world leaders who will form part of a “Board of Peace” to administer the Gaza Strip amid a fragile ceasefire implemented last October, according to reports.

“The Board of Peace is being formed,” Trump told the press aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the Anadolu news agency reported. “Essentially, it’s the most important leaders of the most important nations … You take the most important leaders and nations, that’s who the Board of Peace is going to be.”

The board, which is expected to be chaired by Trump and include around 15 world leaders, will supervise a yet-to-be-formed Palestinian technocratic government and oversee the reconstruction process in Gaza outlined in the US president’s 20-point plan.

Bloomberg reported on Sunday that the aim of the board “is to help form an interim government to replace Hamas and to attract a foreign security force as well as funds.”

Bulgarian Diplomat

It is unclear who will be named as members of the board. However, last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and diplomat, “is set to become the Director of the Gaza Strip Board of Peace.” He made the statement following a meeting with Mladenov in Jerusalem.

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/bulgarian-diplomat-set-to-head-trumps-board-of-peace-for-gaza-reports/embed/#?secret=2RQi3w2cmE#?secret=9h5fDjeQXq

Countries expected to join the board include the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye, according to Anadolu.

Details Outlined

On Friday, Palestinian-American academic Dr. Bisharah Bahbah, who reportedly served as a mediator between Hamas and US officials, issued a statement addressed to the “people of Gaza,” on the latest developments.

Bahbah said it is expected that the Gaza Peace Council will be announced “within the next week, with its first official meeting to be held on the sidelines of the Davos meetings in the third week of this month.”

Palestinian factions, he added, are also expected to meet in Cairo next week, following the announcement of the Peace Council’s members.

“During the Cairo meeting, the names of an independent technocratic committee to manage Gaza’s affairs are expected to be announced. The committee is expected to consist of twelve members,” he stated.

Bahbah noted that “the main entities” responsible for managing the reconstruction process are expected to be formed in about thirty days.

Aid Bodies Targeted

He stated that Israel “is currently seeking to withdraw recognition from most international institutions providing aid to the Gaza Strip, arguing that these institutions are hostile to Israel.”

In the future, he noted, aid is expected to be distributed through mechanisms supervised by privately owned companies.

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/undermine-un-european-states-slam-israels-law-targeting-unrwa-ingos/embed/#?secret=HJjuaTh0BB#?secret=J3oYQpKZpz

After the last Israeli body was handed over, Israel “will no longer have a pretext to close the Rafah crossing,” he said, adding that he expects the crossing to be reopened immediately thereafter.

Bahbah emphasized that he is “fully aware” of the extent of the suffering of the Palestinian population “due to the lack of adequate food, healthcare, shelter, and other basic necessities of a dignified life.” He believed “this year will mark a fundamental turning point for the better.”

Staggering Death Toll

Trump unveiled a 20-point plan on September 29, 2025, aimed at ending Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.

Despite the ceasefire that took effect in October last year, Israel has killed 442 Palestinians and injured 1,240 more, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The total death toll since it launched its genocidal assault on Gaza two years ago has risen to 71,419, with 171,318 injured according to the Palestine Chronicle.

Culture

Palestinian Dresses Immortalize History

CrossFireArabia
August 27, 2025

Eileen Shomali Al-Yateem writes:

Palestinian dresses immortalize history, heritage, and tradition of the now displaced Palestinian villages.

The “Heaven and Hell” dress was named so because it was made of red and green silk fabric and was worn for weddings and special occasions in the displaced village of Lifta and some other villages in Jerusalem.

The white dress of the bride is from the displaced village of Yazur in the Jaffa District: It was made of white fabric, mostly red, with several cheerful colors… with beautiful floral designs on the dome and sides.

Opinion

The Argentinian Priest of Gaza

CrossFireArabia
July 20, 2025

Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader

Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, a young priest of the Society of the Incarnate Word founded in Argentina in 1984, was the first priest to arrive in Jordan for pastoral and spiritual service since 1996. I had the honor to be one of the first people to welcome him during my work in Madaba. He came to learn Arabic and he mastered the language.

Fr. Gabriel represents notable priests and pious pastors who live with their people. I recall that on September 30, 2023, he was in Rome to participate in the investiture of Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Jerusalem as cardinal in the universal Catholic Church. A few days later, events erupted on October 7, 2023, and Fr. Gabriel remained in Rome for several days until he returned to Jerusalem. He was very sad when he saw the aggression taking place on Gaza while he was in Jerusalem, and he had a daily longing to go to Gaza to be with his people.

At the time, Fr. Yousef As’ad, an Egyptian affiliate with the same religious order, was there living with his people in Gaza. Since October 7, he had to do everything at hand, and he truly excelled in depicting the image of the good and faithful shepherd. What encouraged the people of Gaza to remain steadfast was the almost daily phone call by the late Pope Francis, except for days when communications were disrupted in Gaza. However, this phenomenon provided the people of Gaza with reassurance, courage, patience, and steadfastness.

We have seen wounded Fr. Gabriel Romanelli while he was checking on the wounded and caring for them. He was not concerned with his own wounds; he rather cared for the wounds of his people in Gaza. Gaza’s small number of Christians has dwindled due to the bitterness of time and the bloody events that have taken place in this distressed strip. The Christian presence in Gaza was bright, pioneering, and wonderful, yet it has dwindled to a few hundred people sheltering next to the Church of the Holy Family and the Church of Saint Porphyrius.

Where pain, wounds, and death prevail, then sectarianism and competitiveness diminish, while humanity emerges in its most glorious manifestations. We were very jubilant during feasts when seeing priests–despite the harshness of days—accompany their people, while going from one church to another conveying well wishes to pastors of churches and their blessed people.

The suffering and bloodshed to which the Christians were exposed in Gaza is only part of the suffering experienced by all shades of the Palestinian people, and experienced daily through this bloody conflict that dates back far beyond October 7, namely spanning 76 years of daily suffering and daily avid and athirst for freedom, peace, justice, and independence.

We greet the Palestinian people on their legendary steadfastness, which history will one day mark as being one of the stories of steadfastness and heroism experienced by people on daily bases. Congratulations are conveyed to the Palestinian people for their national unity as well as Christian- Muslim cohesion. This is the greatest message of confronting an occupation force, which has occasionally sought to create a schism between the religious shades of people by claiming that Christians are neutral.

Christians in Gaza are an integral part of the Palestinian people’s composition. Consequently, the martyrdom of three people in the church marks Palestinian national unity, whereby independence will one day be attained on national soil.

Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader wrote this for the Jordan Times and it is reprinted here in crossfirearabia.com