RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli authorities barred Palestinians from the West Bank from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for the second consecutive Friday of the Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan.

A large number of Israeli soldiers and police are deployed throughout the city to restrict Muslim faithful access to the mosque, witnesses told Anadolu.

An Anadolu correspondent pointed out that several men and women were refused entry by Israeli forces, claiming they did not obtain the necessary permits.

Palestinian Abdullah Hamayel, 63, told Anadolu that Israeli authorities denied him entry to Jerusalem, claiming that he did not obtain a permit, even though he was carrying his American passport.

Hamayel, originally from the town of Beita, south of Nablus, said, “Jerusalem is more precious to us than anything, but today we were prevented from even praying there.”

Beida Omar, 71, said the Israeli army prevented her from entering Jerusalem because, what the soldiers claimed, she did not follow its instructions to return to the West Bank before the evening prayer last Friday.

“This is untrue. They just want to prevent us from entering Jerusalem. I have a permit, but it is withdrawn,” she said.

Before the start of Ramadan, the Israeli government announced that "during the Fridays throughout the month of Ramadan, people from Judea and Samaria (the Torah name for the West Bank) will be allowed to enter Jerusalem subject to possessing a valid magnetic (security) permit and assessing the security situation."

The army added that only men over the age of 55, women over the age of 50, and children under the age of 10 will be allowed into Jerusalem. However, Israeli soldiers and police are obstructing and preventing Muslims from offering weekly Friday prayers in congregation during the fasting month again.

Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, police have closed all checkpoints around East Jerusalem to residents of the West Bank.

Israel launched its war on Gaza after an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by Hamas. It has since killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians and pushed the territory to the brink of famine.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while most of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara