«EPA» | About 70,000 worshipers performed dinner and Taraweeh prayers on the first day of the blessed month of Ramadan in the Al -Aqsa Mosque.
According to the estimates of the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, most of the worshipers who managed to reach Al -Aqsa are residents of the Holy City and from within the territories of 1948.
On the other hand, Israeli forces prevented thousands of citizens from the West Bank from entering Jerusalem to pray. Local sources reported that these forces have strengthened their procedures around the Al -Aqsa Mosque, especially at the Babi Al -Amoud and Al -Qasab, where they searched the identities of the worshipers and detained a number of young men, in an attempt to reduce the numbers of worshipers in the mosque.
In a related context, Al -Quds Governorate issued a statement warning of the escalation of the Israeli forces during the month of Ramadan, noting plans to restrict the numbers of worshipers in the Al -Aqsa Mosque. Where only 10,000 worshipers from the West Bank will be allowed to perform Friday prayers, in addition to preventing the recently released detainees from entering the mosque, and determining the ages of worshipers from the West Bank, so that only men are allowed over 55 years and women over 50 years to enter.
The governorate also revealed that 3 thousand Israeli policemen were deployed daily on the barriers surrounding Jerusalem, in addition to 82 military checkpoints, which hinders the movement of worshipers and increases pressure on them, in an indication of the systematic policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by the occupation authorities against Jerusalemites.
In its statement, Al -Quds Governorate confirmed that international agreements guarantee freedom of worship, and prohibit the intervention of Israeli forces in religious practices. She warned that these measures come within the framework of Israeli plans to change the status quo in Al -Aqsa Mosque, in preparation for the implementation of Judaization and expansion projects.
The province called on the Palestinian people in the lands of 1948 to intensify their presence in Al -Aqsa to thwart Israeli plans, as well as an appeal to the Arab and Islamic countries and the international community to urgently move to stop Israeli violations and ensure freedom of worship in the Al -Aqsa Mosque
