Amman, May 29 (Petra)-- Around 60,000 worshipers performed Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif despite tightened Israeli occupation restrictions on access to the holy site.

According to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA), the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem said that tens of thousands of worshipers flocked to Al-Aqsa Mosque from the early morning hours to perform prayers within its courtyards, while Israeli forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinians through the gates of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Mosque.

Israeli forces were heavily deployed around the Old City and at the gates of the mosque, where they stopped and checked the identification cards of several young men, coinciding with intensified military measures at checkpoints surrounding Jerusalem.

Al-Aqsa Mosque has been witnessing ongoing stringent Israeli military measures that hinder Palestinians’ access to the site, particularly on Fridays and during religious occasions, amid calls from Jerusalemite and Palestinian groups for worshipers to continue visiting and maintaining a presence at the holy mosque.

//Petra// MF