Several worshipers suffered from suffocation after Israeli drones launched tear gas at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound early Friday.
Palestine TV reported that the Israeli police also fired tear gas towards worshipers in the mosque’s courtyards.
Yesterday, the Palestinian News Agency reported that Israeli forces raided the tents of worshipers staying overnight in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound before dawn, arresting four individuals. Witnesses told the agency that the Israeli police searched the tents of those staying overnight.
It was also reported that Israeli forces are evacuating worshipers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to make way for settlers to storm the mosque the following morning.
Despite restrictions and crackdowns by the Israeli army, thousands of Palestinians performed the evening (Isha) and night (Tarawih) prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem reported that 50,000 people attended the evening and night prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli forces were deployed at the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Old City of Jerusalem, where they searched several young men and checked their IDs as they passed through the Bab Hatta route.
Israeli measures have led to a decrease in the number of worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are prevented from reaching occupied Jerusalem, and dozens of barriers are set up in various neighborhoods and at the entrances to the mosque.
On the first day of Ramadan, Israeli forces placed barbed wire on the wall adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the “Bab al-Asbat” area, aiming to prevent worshipers from entering the mosque.
The Jerusalem Governorate issued a statement saying that, in a dangerous precedent and for the first time since 1967, the Israeli army placed barbed wire on the wall adjacent to the mosque at the (Bab al-Asbat) area.
Since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7th last year, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been under a tight siege by the Israeli army, with restrictions on worshipers’ entry to the site.
