RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israel tightened restrictions Friday on Palestinian worshippers seeking to enter occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan, enforcing strict measures and requiring prior security approval for entry.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered early in the morning at military checkpoints surrounding Jerusalem in an attempt to reach the mosque, but Israeli forces barred many from entering despite some holding previously issued permits, an Anadolu correspondent reported.

The Israeli army deployed large numbers of troops at checkpoints leading into the city, with senior military officers present and a heavy security presence in place.

“Thousands of West Bank residents are crowded at the Qalandiya checkpoint, and the occupation authorities are refusing to allow them to enter on the grounds that the permitted number for Friday, set at 10,000 people, has been reached,” the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a brief statement.

Israel raised its security alert level in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with the start of Ramadan on Wednesday.

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have stepped up arrests and issued expulsion orders in East Jerusalem ahead of Ramadan, a Palestinian rights organization said.

Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, citing international resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.

Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Israel’s military and illegal settlers have intensified operations across the West Bank, including Jerusalem, involving killings, home demolitions, displacement of Palestinians, and settlement expansion.

*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul