Israel Prevents Hundreds of Gazans from Entering Jerusalem

Al-Quds, 14 Rabi’ul Akhir 1438/13 January 2017 (MINA) – Israeli occupation authorities have continued to uphold a recent decision to cancel weekly visitation by hundreds of Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip to attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

Civil Affairs Authority in Gaza affirmed that Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been prevented from reaching Jerusalem to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the fifth consecutive week, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

The IOA revoked permits for Gazans to visit the holy site until further notice after repeated accusations that Palestinians were not returning to the Gaza Strip immediately following the visits. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, cherished as the third holiest site in Islam, is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territory which has been occupied by the Israeli army for almost 50 years.

It is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place, as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, and some Jewish extremists have called for the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque so as to build a Third Temple in its place.

The majority of the more than 1.8 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are sealed inside the coastal enclave due to a near-decade long military blockade imposed by Israel and upheld by Egypt on the southern border.(T/R04/RS05)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)