On 3rd Friday of Ramadan, around 150,000 Palestinians flock to Jerusalem

JERUSAELM – On the third Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, roughly 150,000 Palestinians flocked to the al-Aqsa Mosque.

At the entrance of Ramallah’s Qalandia military checkpoint, tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in a bid to reach the mosque, which sees the tension in the latest weeks.

The Israeli authorities allowed the West Bank women of all ages to visit Jerusalem, while only those men who were older than 50 were allowed.

Arwa Salah, who hailed from Al-Ram town adjacent to the northern neighborhoods of Jerusalem was also forced to pass through the military checkpoint under restricted measures.

“Before the Israeli authorities built the separation wall, it was just 20 minutes to arrive at Al Aqsa Mosque. Today, it takes two hours,” she said.

Since the creation of the illegal separation wall in 2002, the holy city of Jerusalem was isolated from all sides, and visiting it by the West Bank-based Palestinians became much more complicated and limited.

Israel prevents Palestinians from the West Bank from reaching Jerusalem except on the Fridays of Ramadan. Moreover, it doesn’t allow the Palestinians in Gaza Strip to visit the city throughout the year.