"Israel's Civil Administration has cancelled Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, the latest in a series of Israeli restrictions imposed at Islam's third-holiest site since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Civil Administration Chief Brigadier General Hisham Ibrahim said on Thursday via the Israeli army's Al Munasiq platform that the decision was taken in light of Iran launching retaliatory strikes at Israel and the entire region."
"All holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, will remain closed tomorrow, and worshippers and visitors of all religions will not be allowed to enter, said the head of Israel's governing body in the occupied West Bank."
"Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, a senior imam at Al-Aqsa, has slammed Israel's continued closure of Islam's third-holiest site. The occupation authorities are exploiting any occasion to close Al-Aqsa, and this is completely unjustified, he told Al Jazeera on Sunday."
Israel's Civil Administration closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Western Wall, Temple Mount, and Church of the Holy Sepulchre to all worshippers and visitors on Friday in response to Iranian retaliatory missile strikes against Israel. The closure followed US-Israel military operations against Iran, which resulted in at least 1,230 deaths from Israeli and US attacks, while Iranian strikes killed 10 people in Israel. Israeli authorities also restricted Old City access to residents and shop owners only. Senior imam Sheikh Ikrima Sabri criticized the closure as unjustified exploitation of security circumstances. Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to holy sites predate the current conflict, including previous limits on West Bank Palestinians entering the Old City.
#al-aqsa-mosque-closure #iran-israel-conflict #jerusalem-holy-sites #palestinian-access-restrictions #middle-east-tensions
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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