Israeli Occupation Police Disperse Eid Prayers Near Aqsa Mosque

Al-Quds, MINA – Israeli occupation police barred Muslim worshipers from performing Eid al-Fitr prayers in the Bab al-Amud (Damascus Gate) area of Jerusalem on Friday morning, as the Aqsa Mosque remained closed for the 21st consecutive day under heightened security measures across the Old City.

According to Palestinian media sources, police forces fired tear gas canisters at Palestinians near the Old City’s Bab as-Sahira area as they attempted to reach the Aqsa Mosque and pray at its entrances. The crackdown came as worshipers sought to observe their religious duties on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.

In a painful scene, “Takbir” chants for Eid al-Fitr echoed from inside the Aqsa Mosque without the prayer being held, as the holy site remained shuttered to Muslim worshipers. The prolonged closure is considered an unprecedented measure since the Israeli occupation of east Jerusalem in 1967.

The Jerusalem Governorate described the continued closure of the Aqsa Mosque compound and Palestinians’ inability to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers inside the holy site as a “dangerous and unprecedented escalation.”

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The Governorate accused the Israeli occupation authority of seeking to impose new faits accomplis at the Aqsa Mosque and isolate it from its Palestinian and Islamic surroundings. It emphasized that Israel has no sovereignty over Occupied Jerusalem, condemning all its measures as flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, UN resolutions, and the established status quo at the city’s holy sites.

The Governorate noted that the authority to open or close Al-Aqsa Mosque rests exclusively with the Islamic Awqaf Administration, as it is the legal body entrusted with managing the Mosque’s affairs.

The ongoing closure of the mosque during the final days of Ramadan and the first day of Eid al-Fitr marks one of the most severe restrictions imposed on Muslim worshipers in recent decades, drawing widespread condemnation from Palestinian leaders and Islamic institutions.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

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