OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers performed Friday prayer at the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem, despite Israeli restrictions.
Jerusalemite sources affirmed that around 40,000 Muslims performed the Friday prayer at the holy shrine.
A heavy contingent of Israeli police was deployed at the entrances, surroundings, and alleys of the city, as well as at the external gates of the Mosque.
The Israeli forces attacked several young men at Bab Al-Sahira while they were trying to perform the Friday prayer after preventing their access into Aqsa Mosque.
Following the Friday prayer, the worshipers performed the absentee funeral prayer in Aqsa Mosque for the souls of the martyrs who have been killed by the Israeli forces.
They also searched the bags of women before entering the Aqsa Mosque, checked the IDs of young men, and prevented a number of them from entering the holy site through King Faisal Gate, coinciding with the Friday prayer.
Israeli authorities also imposed more restrictions on West Bankers’ entry to the Aqsa Mosque compound.
Earlier Friday, thousands of Jerusalemites performed the Fajr prayer at the Aqsa Mosque despite the Israeli security restrictions at its gates.
During the Friday sermon at the Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein sent a message to the Arab and Islamic countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, questioning their role in helping the Palestinian people, especially those who are being subjected to a genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.
The Aqsa preacher stressed that supporting the Palestinian people and protecting holy sites in Palestine is a religious, moral, social, and political duty.
Sheikh Hussein also called on the Arab and Islamic countries to perform the minimum humanitarian duties: to relieve the hungry, heal the wounds of the injured, and alleviate the pain of the sick and wounded in the Gaza Strip.
He also called on the Islamic nation to live up to the responsibility of supporting the land of Palestine and its people.
