Meanwhile, Israeli troops kill and wound 100 aid seekers in Gaza overnight
- Australia resumes Unrwa funding
- US Senate majority leader calls for new Israeli elections
- Israeli PM calls Hamas ceasefire demands ‘unrealistic’
Thousands of West Bank Palestinians were blocked from reaching Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
While Israel initially said elders would be allowed to cross, some speaking to Middle East Eye were also denied entry. Many were sent away under the pretext of not having “prayer permits”.
“They told me, ‘go back,’” one man said after being turned away in Bethlehem. “I am 90 years old, what is your problem with me?”
The man, filled with sadness, said he would make another attempt to be allowed in.
Hanan, a 50-year-old woman told MEE she left her village of Arab al-Rashayda, a roughly 80km drive to Bethlehem, right after finishing suhoor, the meal Muslims consume before fasting starts at dawn. She was also told she needed a permit.
“We used to enter normally, this year they have tightened [their restrictions],” she said.
Many remain determined to go, despite Israeli restrictions.
“We need to get to Al-Aqsa,” said an old man waiting in line in his wheelchair. “Even if I must die, even if it were the last day of my life, I must reach Al-Aqsa, God permitting.”
Reporting by Mosab Shawer in Bethlehem, occupied Palestine.
