Israeli authorities have further tightened restrictions for Palestinians travelling to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. They have thereby added to the mounting tensions.
AlJazeera reports that despite the restrictions, 80,000 worshippers still made it to the holy site for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.
However, thousands of Palestinians were not allowed to enter occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli forces gave the mosque a very tight security.
Men over the age of 55 and women over the age of 50 were allowed to enter the mosque. However, they must have a valid permit. This made the mosque – the third holy site in Islam – inaccessible to a vast majority of Palestinians.
Over 95% of Palestinians were prohibited from reaching the mosque. The secretary-general of the Palestinian National Institute Mustafa Barghouti said, “The portion of the community that is allowed is very small – people who are above the age of 55.”
He further said, “The tension inside the mosque is very high because of the Israeli restrictions, beating of the people and provocations. I expect that there will be trouble because of all these provocations.”
One worshipper whom the Israeli soldiers turned back said there were more soldiers than worshippers.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “deceiving the world” by saying no additional measures would be imposed to limit access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan compared with previous years.
The ministry called on the international community and the United States to intervene to end these “racist” policies and ensure that the right to worship is upheld.
