By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - At least 120,000 Palestinian worshipers performed the second Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem, despite Israeli restrictions.
Around 120,000 Muslims performed the Friday prayer today at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, the director-general of the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, told Anadolu.
This number is considered lower than usual for this time of Ramadan, as the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem estimated the number of worshippers to be around 250,000 on the same day last year.
A heavy contingent of Israeli police was deployed at the entrances, surroundings, and alleys of the city, as well as at the external gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to an Anadolu correspondent.
Israel has restricted Palestinian worshippers’ access to Al-Aqsa Mosque amid growing tensions across the occupied West Bank due to the Israeli army’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul