OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Hamas Movement denounced the Israeli police for assaulting Palestinian worshipers and denying them access to Al-Aqsa Mosque for the 13th Friday in a row, saying that such an act exposes an arbitrary Nazi behavior, a blatant disrespect of sanctities and a violation of Palestinians’ right to freedom of worship.
In a statement on Friday, Hamas called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States to assume their responsibility to protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque from the escalating threat of Judaization, and to halt Israeli violations against Islamic and Christian sacred places.
For the 13th consecutive week, Israeli police have been imposing tight restrictions on the entry of worshipers into Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the Friday prayer.
An Islamic Endowments Department official explained that only 15,000 people were allowed to perform Friday prayer in the Mosque today, compared to more than 50,000 worshipers on regular Fridays before the war on Gaza on October 7, adding that the Mosque and its courtyards seemed almost empty of worshipers due to the Israeli restrictions.
Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli police allowed only the elderly to enter the holy site and assaulted other worshipers at Bab al-Asbat and Bab al-Sahira gates after blocking traffic and banning visitors from approaching the site.
Meanwhile, large Israeli forces were deployed across the city of occupied Jerusalem, with military checkpoints erected at the entrances to the Old City and at the outer gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, obliging hundreds of worshipers to perform Friday prayer on the streets near the Old City.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of more than 22,000 Palestinians, wounding more than 57,000 others, and leaving massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.
