Tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers attended the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the largest gathering of its kind since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, head of the Waqf Islamic Affairs Council, told AFP that an estimated 70,000 worshipers came from Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israeli communities in Israel.
During last year’s Ramadan, under the pandemic, “they [Israeli authorities] I did not allow anyone to enter Al-Aqsa except me, “he said.
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On Friday, police closed roads around Jerusalem while buses loaded with worshipers were traveling. But the large square of the complex was far from full.
The coordinator of government activities in the territories, Israel’s military corps that administers the West Bank, said 10,000 vaccinated Palestinians had been granted permission to enter Jerusalem for prayers this year.
Friday prayers took place as tensions rose in the capital. Police were stationed around Jerusalem’s old city in anticipation of possible unrest after three consecutive nights of riots in the area.
The month of Ramadan normally registers tensions around the old city of Jerusalem, which hosts the ignition point of the Temple Mount, holy to both Jews and Muslims.
A Palestinian woman raises her arms in prayer as she participates in the first Friday prayers of the Muslim month of Ramadan, outside the Temple Mount on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, on April 16, 2021. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
There have been night clashes in East Jerusalem over the past three days, with tensions erupting over a police decision to prevent people from standing on the stairs in front of the Damascus Gate as part of coronavirus restrictions.
Palestinians were also outraged earlier this week after Israel disconnected the power supply from speakers that issued the Islamic call to prayer on Temple Mount during an official Memorial Day service on Tuesday night. adjacent wall square.
Palestinians clean the floor of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, before the holy month of Ramadan, April 10, 2021 (Jamal Awad / Flash90)
Tensions are also rising in East Jerusalem over concerns that Israel will prevent participation in next month’s Palestinian national legislative elections. Israel has repressed the Palestinian Authority’s activity inside Jerusalem, considering it a violation of its sovereignty in its capital.
At least two police officers and five civilians were injured during clashes in East Jerusalem this week, which saw gunmen leave firecrackers, rocks and glass bottles at police and passers-by, according to police.
Israeli border police confront Palestinians in front of the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 15, 2021 (Jamal Awad / Flash90)
Police spokesman Shimon Cohen said seven people had been arrested overnight in Palestinian neighborhoods near the old city. The detainees attacked a police officer, who sought medical attention for a head injury and threw stones and glass bottles, he said.
The video circulating online showed people hitting the windows of an East Jerusalem police vehicle and officers firing stun grenades.
Temple Mount has long been a hotbed, and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces have sometimes become deadly.
Israel captured the complex and the rest of Jordan’s old city in the 1967 six-day war, but Waqf, which is funded and controlled by the Jordanian government, continued to manage the site. Israeli security forces are present on the mountain and are working in coordination with Waqf. Jews are allowed to visit, but unlike Muslims, they are forbidden to pray on the ground of the Temple Mount.
