300 GAZANS HEAD TO JERUSALEM TO PRAY IN AL-AQSA

Al-Quds (Jerusalem), 6 Dzulqa’dah 1436/21 August 2015 (MINA) – Hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip headed to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem via the Erez Crossing on Friday.

An official at the Palestinian liaison office said that 300 Palestinians above the age of 50 headed early Friday to Jerusalem from the Gaza Strip, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Weekly access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Gazans has become routine since October 2014 when some 500 Palestinians in Gaza prayed at the mosque for the first time since 2007, having been prevented by Israel from traveling to Jerusalem since that time.

The decision to allow Gazans to travel to Al-Aqsa was reached as part of the ceasefire deal between Palestinian militant groups and Israel that ended the more than 50-day war over summer in which Israeli bombardment killed more than 2,200 Gazans.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam and has received thousands of Palestinian worshipers during Ramadan this year, the majority of whom required permits from Israel to access the holy site that lies in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.(T/P008/RO6)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)