JERUSALEM (AP) — In the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, about 90,000 Palestinians prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City under tight security by Israeli forces.
Thousands made their way from the West Bank into Jerusalem after Israel allowed men over 55 and women over 50 to enter from the occupied territory for the prayers. Tensions have risen in the West Bank in the past weeks amid Israeli raids on militants. There was no immediate sign of frictions in Jerusalem on Friday.
However, Palestinian authorities said Israeli soldiers had stormed eight mosques around the city of Nablus, in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a statement posted to X, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israeli operations set fire to “large sections” of the Al-Nasr mosque in the old city of Nablus, posting a photo of the interior of the mosque, where walls appeared blackened. The mosque used to be a Byzantine church.
Asked for comment, the military said it was “not aware” of any fire set by soldiers at the site.
A chance to enter a holy place
For many Palestinians, Friday marked their first opportunity to enter Jerusalem since last Ramadan about a year ago, when Israel also let in worshippers under similar restrictions.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, the Israeli government blocked Palestinians in the West Bank from crossing to Jerusalem or visiting Israel. Cuts to USAID by the Trump administration have also set back aid groups operating in Gaza.
Last Ramadan, the war was raging, but this time, a fragile ceasefire is in place since mid-January — though its future is uncertain. Since Sunday, Israel has barred all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for some 2 million people, demanding Hamas accept a revised deal.
Prayers at the Dome of the Rock and in the rubble of Gaza
In Gaza, thousands gathered for the Friday communal prayers in the shattered concrete husk of Gaza City's Imam Shafi’i Mosque, heavily damaged by Israeli forces during fighting. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset as a sign of humility, submission to God and sympathy for the poor and hungry.
On Thursday evening, Palestinians strung festive Ramadan lights around the rubble of destroyed buildings surrounding their tent camp in Gaza City and set up long communal tables for hundreds of people where aid groups served up iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast.
At Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Nafez Abu Saker said he left his home in the village of Aqraba in the northern West Bank at 7 a.m., taking three hours to make the 45-kilometer (20-mile) trip through Israeli checkpoints to reach Jerusalem. “If the people from the West Bank will be permitted to come, people from all the cities, villages and camps will come to Al-Aqsa to pray," he said.
“The reward of prayer here is like 500 prayers — despite the difficulty of the road to get here. It brings a great reward from God,” said Ezat Abu Laqia, also from Aqraba.
The faithful formed rows to listen to the Friday sermon and kneel in prayer at the foot of the golden Dome of the Rock on the sprawling mosque compound. The Islamic Trust, which oversees the Al-Aqsa compound, said 90,000 attended the prayers. The Israeli police said it deployed thousands of additional officers around the area.
The compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, and the surrounding area of Jerusalem’s Old City have been the site of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in the past. The Old City is part of east Jerusalem, captured by Israel along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast War. Israel has since annexed the sector, though Palestinians seek it and the territories for an independent state.
Tight security and delays at checkpoints
Thousands of Palestinians coming from the West Bank lined up at the Qalandia checkpoint on the edge of Jerusalem to attend the prayers. But some were turned away, either because they didn’t have the proper permits or because the checkpoint closed.
Israeli police said authorities had approved the entry of 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank, but did not say how many made it into Jerusalem.
“All the young people, elderly people and women were waiting here. They refused to let anyone cross at the checkpoint,” said Mohammed Owaisat, who arrived to find the crossing closed.
The fragile ceasefire
The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire brought the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by militants in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But an intended second phase of the deal — meant to bring the release of remaining hostages and a lasting truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — has been thrown into doubt. Israel has balked at entering negotiations over the terms of the second phase. Instead, it has called for Hamas to release half its remaining hostages in return for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
It says its bar on aid to Gaza will continue and could be escalated until Hamas accepts the proposal — a move rights groups and Arab countries have decried as a “starvation tactic.” Hamas has demanded implementation of the original ceasefire deal.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the implementation of the deal and to push for the second phase, Egypt’s State Information Service said.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.
The campaign was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 23, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took a total of 251 people hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements. Hamas is believed to still have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.
Hamas on Friday released video footage of Israeli hostage Matan Angrest in captivity and claimed that remaining hostages feel the Israeli government has abandoned them and also called on Trump to bring them home.
In the video, Angrest, an Israeli soldier taken captive from the Nahal Oz military base, says there’s no sunlight and that winter conditions are tough in Gaza.
Likely speaking under duress, he appealed to Donald Trump, saying the U.S. president is the only one who can return all the hostages because of his influence over Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Angrest's family said it was “shaken by the video” and added that his appearance in the footage makes them fear that he has been tortured.
Imad Isseid And Julia Frankel, The Associated Press
