Israel prevents medical teams from reaching Al-Aqsa on 1st Friday of Muslim holy month

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli forces prevented all medical teams, including ambulances, from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“The (Israeli) occupation forces prevented all medical teams from entering the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

The Israeli forces also prevented "all ambulance crews in all medical institutions in Jerusalem from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque," the society added, noting that "ambulance crews were attacked while they were heading to the mosque."

On the first Friday of Ramadan, the Israeli authorities imposed severe restrictions on their military checkpoints between the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

On Monday, the Israeli army said worshipers from the West Bank will be allowed to enter Jerusalem on the condition of possessing a security permit.

However, West Bank residents have not yet been allowed to cross Israeli checkpoints and enter Jerusalem to perform the evening and Tarawih prayers.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

More than 31,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 73,100 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi