Al-Aqsa Mosque almost empty due to Israeli restrictions for 17th Friday in row

By Abdulraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli restrictions have prevented tens of thousands of Palestinian Muslims from attending weekly Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque for the 17th Friday since the war began in the Gaza Strip.

Only 13,000 people were able to enter the mosque to perform prayers, compared to more than 50,000 on regular Fridays, said an official in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the mosque seemed almost empty of Muslim faithful due to Israeli restrictions.

The police have imposed restrictions on entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, but they are particularly strict on Fridays.

The Israeli police set up barriers at the entrances to the Old City and at the outer gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and allowed only elderly people to pass.

Israeli restrictions forced hundreds of worshipers to perform prayers in the streets near the Old City.

The Israeli police were significantly deployed around the prayer sites, eyewitnesses said.

Israel has been imposing tight restrictions on worshipers since it launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas in which Israel says 1,200 Israelis were killed.

At least 27,131 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 66,287 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara