In the prayers of the first Friday of the Sacred Muslim Ramadan, around 90,000 Palestinians prayed in the Al-Aqsa mosque in the old town of Jerusalem under security tight by Israeli forces.
Thousands of people have made their way to the West Bank to Jerusalem after Israel has enabled men over 55 and women over 50 to enter occupied territory for prayers. Tensions have increased in the West Bank in recent weeks in the midst of Israeli raids on activists. But there was no immediate sign of friction on Friday.
For many Palestinians, it was their first chance of entering Jerusalem from the last Ramadan about a year ago, when Israel also let the faithful enter similar restrictions. Since the start of the War of Israel-Hamas in October 2023, the Israeli government has blocked the Palestinians in the West Bank to cross Jerusalem or to visit Israel.
The last Ramadan, war was raging, but this time, a fragile ceasefire has been in place since mid-January-although its future is uncertain. Since Sunday, Israel has banned any food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to enter some 2 million people, demanding that the terrorist group designated by the United States has accepted a revised agreement.
In Gaza, thousands of people gathered for the common Friday prayers in the broken broken ball of the Imam Shafi'i mosque of Gaza City, strongly damaged by Israeli forces during the fighting. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset as a sign of humility, submission to God and sympathy for the poor and the hunger.
Thursday evening, the Palestinians suspended the festive lights of Ramadan around the rubble of destroyed buildings surrounding their tent camps in Gaza City and installed long municipal tables for hundreds of people where the aid groups served Iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast.
Prayers at the Dome of the Rocher
At the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Nafez Abu Saker said that he had left his home in the village of Aqraba in the north of the West Bank at 7 am, taking three hours to make the 45-kilometer trip through Israeli control points to reach Jerusalem. “If the inhabitants of the West Bank will be authorized to come, people from all the cities, villages and camps will come to Al-Aqsa to pray,” he said.
“The prayer reward here is like 500 prayers – despite the difficulty of the road to get here. He brings a great reward from God, “said Ezat Abu Laqia, who is also from Aqraba.
The faithful formed rows to listen to the Friday sermon and kneel in prayer at the foot of the golden dome of the rock on the compound of the sprawling mosque. The Islamic trust, which oversees the Al-Aqsa complex, said that 90,000 attended prayers. Israeli police said they had deployed thousands of additional agents in the region.
The complex, venerated by the Jews such as Mount du Temple, and the surroundings of the old town of Jerusalem were the site of the confrontations between the Palestinians and the Israeli police in the past. The old town is part of East Jerusalem, captured by Israel with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War. Israel has since annexed the sector, although the Palestinians are looking for it and the territories for an independent state.
Tight security, control point delays
Thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank have lined up at the Qalandia control point on the edge of Jerusalem to attend prayers. But some were refused, either because they did not have the appropriate permits, or because the control point has closed. Israeli police said that the authorities had approved the entry of 10,000 Palestinians into the West Bank, but had not said how many people entered Jerusalem.
“All young people, the elderly and women were waiting here. They refused to let someone cross at the checkpoint, “said Mohammed Owaisat, who arrived to find the closed crossing.
The first phase of the ceasefire of Israel-Hamas brought the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by activists in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But a second planned phase of the agreement – intended to bring the release of remaining hostages and a sustainable truce and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza – was questioned. Israel fell back into negotiations on the terms of the second phase. Instead, he called Hamas to release half of his remaining hostages in exchange for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a sustainable truce.
He says that his obstacle to help in Gaza will continue and could be degenerated until Hamas accepts the proposal – a move from the defense groups of Arab rights and countries have denounced as a “famine tactic”. Hamas asked for the implementation of the original ceasefire agreement.
Friday, a delegation from Hamas arrived in Cairo to discuss the implementation of the agreement and to put pressure for the second phase, said the Egyptian state service.
The military offensive of Israel killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many deaths were activists.
The campaign was launched on October 23, 2023 of Hamas, a terrorist attack on southern Israel, in which activists killed some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and took a total of 251 people hostage. Most were released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements. Hamas would still have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.
