Over 75,000 Palestinians attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa amid Israeli restrictions

More than 75,000 Palestinians offered weekly Friday prayers in congregation at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, despite ongoing Israeli restrictions imposed since October 2023, according to Islamic authorities, Anadolu reports. The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem said in a statement that over 75,000 Muslim faithful were able to access the mosque compound. Hundreds of Israeli police officers were deployed around the Old City, including its alleys and at the external gates of the compound, witnesses said. Israeli police stopped several young Palestinians in the area and checked their identification documents, an Anadolu correspondent reported. Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have barred Palestinians from the occupied West Bank from entering Jerusalem to […]