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Israel restricts Al-Aqsa access on eve of Jewish New Year

Israeli police and soldiers stepped up security at the holy site's entrances, barring men and women under 45 from entering the compound

23.09.2014 - Update : 23.09.2014
Israel restricts Al-Aqsa access on eve of Jewish New Year

By Turgut Alp Boyraz 

JERUSALEM

Israeli police on Tuesday restricted the access of Muslim worshippers to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the eve of the Jewish New Year.

Israeli police and soldiers stepped up security at the holy site's entrances, barring men and women under 45 from entering the compound.

Jews will celebrate the start of "Rosh Hashanah" (Jewish New Year) on Wednesday evening, which will be the first day of the new Jewish year of 5775.

Israel typically imposes restrictions on Muslim worshippers' access to Al-Aqsa on the first days of the Jewish New Year.

According to the Jewish faith, the day marks the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first steps toward the realization of mankind's role in God's world.

In recent months, groups of extremist Jewish settlers – often accompanied by Israeli security forces – have repeatedly forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

The frequent violations anger Palestinian Muslims and occasionally lead to violent confrontations.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.

In September 2000, a visit to the site by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the "Second Intifada" – a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed and injured.

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