More than 170,000 Muslims prayed outside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday, as the holy month of Ramadan entered its final full week, police said.
The faithful turned out in droves to prostrate themselves in the vast Al-Aqsa compound within the walled Old City, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
Muslim religious authorities, however, told Agence France Presse the number was 300,000.
The compound, a flashpoint because of its significance to both Muslims and Jews, is several hundred meters (thousands of feet) long and wide and houses the Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques.
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Islam, Israel, Middle East, Mosque, Religion