IN PICTURES: About 80,000 Palestinians attend Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- About 80,000 Palestinian worshipers performed Friday prayers today at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem’s Islamic Waqf confirmed that around 80,000 worshipers performed the Friday prayers at the mosque today.
The Waqf said Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, 1948-occupied Palestine, and occupied Jerusalem succeeded in reaching the holy site and attending the Friday sermon and prayers despite Israel’s strict restrictions.
In Pictures: Thousands of Palestinians perform Friday prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, today 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/UWLo4lV1ov
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 17, 2023
Ahead of the prayers, Israeli occupation forces deployed at the mosques’ gates and in its vicinity.
The forces reportedly stopped dozens of Palestinians, searched them, and prevented them from entering the holy site.
Following the prayer, a march was held at the courtyards of the mosque to mark the Lailat al-Isra and Miraj (commemorating Prophet Muhammad’s night journey from Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque from where he ascended temporarily into heaven. The holiday is generally observed on the 27th day of Rajab, the seventh month of the Islamic calendar.)
وقفة في رحاب المسجد الأقصى إحياء لذكرى الإسراء والمعراج pic.twitter.com/AO8vRTf9KO
— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) February 17, 2023
Every Friday, thousands of Palestinians stream to the Al-Aqsa mosque, the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims to attend the prayers and recite the Holy Quran.
Israeli occupation authorities have allowed settler incursions to the mosque since 2003 under the forces’ protection, despite repeated objections and warnings by the Palestinian religious authorities as the visits provoke worshipers of the mosque.
While the forces facilitate the settlers’ illegal incursions to the holy site, they attack, arrest, harass and obstruct the movement of Palestinian worshipers on their way to the mosque and at the mosque.
In 2021, 34,562 Israeli settlers broke into the holy site, setting a new record, as in 2020, 19,000 settlers broke into the mosque and 29,700 settlers in 2019, according to Al-Qastal, a Palestinian network hub for Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.
Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times. The complex also includes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world.
