Many Palestinians from the occupied West Bank were unable to attend the Eid prayers in Jerusalem due to Israeli restrictions on movement.
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Palestinians offered Eid al-Adha prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Friday morning, despite tight Israeli restrictions and a somber atmosphere driven by the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.
According to local estimates, approximately 80,000 Palestinians gathered at Islam’s third-holiest mosque, entering and exiting while chanting the traditional Eid Takbirat.
Israeli police forces were heavily deployed in and around the Al-Aqsa compound and the Old City before, during, and after the prayers.
However, many Palestinians from the occupied West Bank were unable to attend the Eid prayers in Jerusalem due to Israeli restrictions on movement.
Many Palestinians barred from entering the mosque by Israeli orders were spotted praying outside its gates.
However, the usual festive spirit of Eid was notably absent. The mood in Jerusalem was subdued as the city grappled with the impact of Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a genocidal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 54,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave’s more than 2 million inhabitants.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave. — AA
