By MOHAMMED MAR’I ARAB NEWS
RAMALLAH: Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine Sheikh Mohammed Hussein said that despite Israeli restrictions, some 300,000 Palestinian worshipers succeeded to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for last Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.
Hussein told Arab News that “the worshipers succeeded to reach the mosque despite the strict Israeli measures at the military checkpoint surrounding the occupied city of Jerusalem.”
Since the start of Ramadan, the Israeli security forces have only allowed Palestinian married men aged 50 and over and women aged 45 and over to enter Jerusalem.
Arab Palestinians inside Israel and those living in East Jerusalem do not face restrictions in visiting the mosque compound, the place where a Palestinian uprising began in 2000. Since then Palestinians from the West Bank have had an increasingly difficult time entering Jerusalem. With occasional exceptions, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip cannot get permission to visit the city. Hussein said that “the Israeli suppressive measures prevented thousands of Palestinian worshippers from the West Bank from reaching Al-Aqsa.” “The Israelis are saying that they lifted restrictions in Ramadan but tens of thousands were barred from reaching Al-Aqsa for prayers.”
