Israel blocks Eid prayers at Al-Aqsa for first time since 1967

Israeli forces blocked Eid al-Fitr prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday for the first time since Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, dispersing worshippers and preventing access to the site amid ongoing war conditions.

Hundreds of Palestinians attempted to pray in the streets and open areas leading up to the mosque following a religious ruling, with Israeli authorities having kept the compound closed for nearly three weeks, using the war on Iran as a pretext.

Al-Aqsa preacher Sheikh Ikrima Sabri told The New Arab that worshippers should perform Eid prayers in areas surrounding the mosque, saying: "We issued a religious ruling that whoever performs the prayer in the streets and squares leading to Al-Aqsa will receive the same reward as those who pray inside the mosque."

"This is the first Eid al-Fitr in which Eid prayers are not held in Al-Aqsa Mosque, because it has been closed since the US-Israeli war on Iran. This is an arbitrary and unjustified measure by the occupying authorities that violates freedom of worship and contradicts international conventions and norms," he added.

Sabri said that Eid prayers had not ceased at the site since 1967, adding: "Since the occupation of Jerusalem, Eid prayers have never stopped, nor have the takbirs ceased being raised from Al-Aqsa Mosque - until this Eid."

Israeli forces imposed strict measures from early morning, closing checkpoints around Jerusalem and preventing Palestinians, including elderly people and permit holders, from entering the city in what appeared to be a pre-emptive move to stop large gatherings near the mosque.

Witnesses said Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs at worshippers near Bab al-Sahira as they attempted to reach the closest possible point to pray.

Dozens of others who gathered at Bab al-Asbat were later chased and dispersed, despite chanting Eid takbirs in the rain and cold.

At least one young man was arrested on Salah al-Din Street in Jerusalem on suspicion of gathering to perform Eid prayers, while Israeli forces also detained Sheikh Fadi al-Jabrini, imam of a mosque in Beit Hanina, during an early morning raid on his home.

In a statement, the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate described the closure of Al-Aqsa and the prevention of Eid prayers as "an unprecedented escalation and an attempt to impose dangerous measures" to demographically change Jerusalem.

It added that preventing Eid prayers constitutes "a serious and unprecedented escalation and a blatant violation of freedom of worship and of the legal and historical status quo in the holy city", noting that the mosque has remained closed for 21 consecutive days since 28 February.

The statement stressed that authority over opening and closing Al-Aqsa lies exclusively with the Islamic Waqf, warning that the measures form part of a broader effort to isolate the mosque from its Palestinian and Islamic surroundings.

Ziyad Ibhais, a researcher on Jerusalem affairs, told The New Arab that the closure marked the longest such shutdown of Al-Aqsa since its liberation from the Crusaders more than eight centuries ago.

He said the measures imposed during Ramadan were unprecedented, including the banning of Friday prayers, the final Friday of the holy month, and nightly prayers, as well as preventing worshippers from observing seclusion during the last ten days.

Ibhais warned that the closure is part of a "calculated act of war" aimed at asserting Israeli control over the site and isolating it during one of the most significant periods for Muslim worship, potentially paving the way for further escalatory steps after Ramadan.