Israel continues to prevent Palestinians from praying the Friday prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Thousands of Palestinians could not attend the Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Quds (Jerusalem) for the tenth week in a row due to restrictions imposed by the oppressive Israeli regime since the start of the war against Gaza on October 7.
An official from the Islamic Foundation Department in Jerusalem said that only 7,000 worshipers entered the mosque, compared to the usual 50,000 on normal Fridays. The official, who did not want his name to be mentioned, said that the Israeli forces prevented tens of thousands of believers from entering the mosque, which is the third holiest place in Islam. Eyewitnesses have said that only a few elders were able to reach the mosque, which seemed to have very few believers. They have also said that brutal Israeli police stopped and attacked Palestinian youths who tried to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the alleys of the Old City. Hundreds of Palestinians were forced to pray in the streets around occupied al-Quds, such as Salah al-Din Street, Al-Musara, and Wadi al-Joz. More than 21,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been martyred during the genocidal war that Israel launched on October 7, following an operation carried out by Gaza resistance groups named Operation al-Aqsa Hurricane.
