Three hundred Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were permitted to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday, according to Palestinian officials. This followed a recent decision to lift a ban implemented last week in response to a shooting in Tel Aviv.
Israeli authorities lifted a ban on visitations by elderly Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, following the suspension of all coordination with the small Palestinian territory in a punitive response to an attack in Tel Aviv.
The worshipers, all of whom were above the age of 50, traveled to Jerusalem via the Erez crossing to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the second Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to a Palestinian liaison official.
Dedication to go and Pray Friday Prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque today
No Apartheid Wall will stop a Palestinian! #Ramadan pic.twitter.com/sPqkphY8Qs— Abbs Winston (@AbbsWinston) June 17, 2016
Palestinian officials told Ma’an that 500 worshipers were expected to visit Al-Aqsa on Friday for Ramadan. However, Israeli authorities have continued to freeze the permits of all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip that do not fit within the criteria of the 2014 ceasefire agreement.
Israeli police released a statement on Thursday saying that entry into Jerusalem for Friday prayers for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank would be determined according to decisions made by the Minister of Defense.
(MA’AN, PC)
Why should any muslims be allowed to pray there? In 19 years of Arab-muslim occupation of the capital of the Jewish state from 1948-1967, not one, repeat: NOT ONE Jew was ever allowed to pray at Judaism’s holiest site.