Occupied Jerusalem: Tens of thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite the heightened security measures and restrictions imposed by Israeli occupation forces on worshippers.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem said that tens of thousands of worshippers performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It reported that the Israeli occupation forces imposed strict restrictions on worshippers’ access to Al-Aqsa Mosque and erected metal barriers around the gates of the Old City and the mosque.
The department added that the occupation forces prevented dozens of young men from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers after stopping them, checking their identification documents and recording their details.
Earlier on Friday, dozens of settlers entered the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery, adjacent to the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, where they performed Talmudic rituals and blew the shofar near the graves of Muslims, under the protection of Israeli occupation police, on the eve of what is known as the Jewish New Year.
The Jerusalem Governorate said the rituals were conducted from the outside of the cemetery for the third consecutive week, amid growing demands by groups affiliated with the so-called Temple movement to impose their religious rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during Jewish holidays.
It added that, amid restrictions preventing them from conducting some of these rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, settlers have resorted to carrying them out around the mosque, at its gates and in areas adjacent to its walls, particularly Bab al-Rahma Cemetery, in an attempt to establish a new reality on the ground, expand manifestations of Judaization from inside the mosque to its surrounding areas, and target its Islamic identity and the status of the holy sites and landmarks surrounding it.
