Tens of thousands of Palestinians flock to Al Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayer
About 150,000 Palestinians have gathered at Al Aqsa Mosque in defiance of Israel's visitation restrictions and violent attacks on worshippers during the holy month.
Palestinian access to the holy site has become especially more difficult since 2002 after Israel built the separation wall.
Roughly 150,000 Palestinians have gathered at the flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque on the third Friday of Ramadan.
At the entrance of Ramallah's Qalandia military checkpoint, tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in a bid to reach the mosque, which has seen tensions soar in the last weeks as Israeli forces attacked worshippers during the holy month.
The Israeli authorities allowed women of all ages from the occupied West Bank to visit Jerusalem during Ramadan, while only men older than 50 were allowed to attend prayers at Islam’s third holiest site.
Islamic belief holds that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven on his Night Journey from Al Aqsa Mosque and that he led prayers towards the mosque until it was decreed to turn towards the Kaaba in Mecca.
Arwa Salah, who hailed from Al Ram town, adjacent to the northern neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, was also forced to pass through the military checkpoint under restricted measures.
"Before the Israeli authorities built the separation wall, it was just 20 minutes to arrive at Al Aqsa Mosque. Today, it takes two hours," she explained.
The governing authority of Gaza, Hamas, has said that “Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque are a red line and that any provocation will be met with confrontation.”
Since the creation of the separation wall in 2002, the holy city of Jerusalem has been isolated from all sides and visits by Palestinians from the occupied West Bank has become much more complicated and limited.
Palestinians visiting the complex chanted slogans against Israel as tensions have mounted over the years due to the heavy restriction of access to the holy site as well as Israeli negligence of agreed upon rules under the site's Islamic endowment.
Israel prevents Palestinians from the occupied West Bank from reaching Jerusalem except on the Fridays of Ramadan.
Moreover, it doesn't allow Palestinians in besieged Gaza to visit the city throughout the year.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has said that violent attacks on Al Aqsa are a flagrant violation of international resolutions and could stoke violence in the region and beyond.
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