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Day 175: Jerusalem during “Al-Aqsa Flood” Operation
March 29, 2024

On the 175th day of "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation", the occupation authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers to Al-Aqsa on the third Friday of Ramadan, and placed iron barriers and barricades in the streets, closed the main roads, and designated routes for the worshippers to walk, and streets for the buses to transport them, while carrying out various arrests. Marches were also organized in Al-Aqsa in support of the Gaza Strip.

The restrictions and procedures that accompany the Palestinian to reach Al-Aqsa

The occupation forces deployed their various elements in the city of Jerusalem, especially in the roads leading to al-Aqsa and adjacent to the wall of the Old City and at its gates, the roads of Al-Aqsa and its gates, and placed iron fences and barricades on all roads, and also closed many of the main roads and streets in the city mainly in "Wadi Al-Joz , Sheikh Jarrah, Al-Sowaneh, Silwan, Herods Gate, Damascus Gate, Nablus Street, Al-Musrara, and Sultan Suleiman Street", which forced the worshippers flocking to Al-Aqsa to walk long distances to reach it.

As for Palestinians entry "holders of West Bank IDs", the conditions and restrictions are the same for the third Friday in a row, the presence of a "magnetic card", a permit from the "coordinator application", the permit specifies the times "for Friday only from 4:00 AM to 5:00 PM", and each person must return to the checkpoint from which he/she exited toward Jerusalem to sign the "fingerprint" to confirm his/her return to the West Bank, and a total of 10,000 worshipers will be allowed to enter. As for the ages of the worshipers, "men under 55 and women under 50 are prohibited from entering, and children under the age of 10 years are allowed to enter.

Worshippers from the West Bank explained that those who are late in arriving at the checkpoint "for signing/fingerprinting" after five o'clock in the evening may be fined, or be denied a "permit" next Friday, while those who "don't do the fingerprinting" may have their homes stormed confirm their return, or might receive a message from the coordinator.

The worshipers said that setting the hours of the permit prohibits them from performing the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers at Al-Aqsa, or even sitting for an hour in it, and what made it more difficult for them this Friday was "the change of time in Jerusalem to the summer time", which created an hour difference from the West Bank, and this forced them to leave Al-Aqsa as soon as the prayer is over in it to reach the checkpoints.

The forces deployed in the streets of Jerusalem, stopped the young men in particular, and subjected some to physical searches, while they assaulted a number of them by beating in the streets of the city and at the gates of Al-Aqsa.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem explained that the forces carried out various arrests of more than 20 Palestinians from Jerusalem on Friday, including "young men from the West Bank" under the pretext of entering illegally.

Hundreds of thousands in Al-Aqsa

From the Fajer prayer on Friday until the end of Taraweeh prayers, hundreds of thousands of worshipers flocked to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Islamic Endowments Department said that 125,000 prayed the Friday Noon prayer, and 150,000 worshippers prayed the Ishaa and Taraweeh prayers, and 50,000 prayed the Fajer prayer, and most of the worshipers were from the people of Jerusalem and the Palestinian 1948 lands where dozens of buses traveled from all cities and villages to Al-Aqsa and around the clock.

Marches in Al-Aqsa

After the Fajer and Taraweeh prayers, marches were organized in Al-Aqsa from the courtyard of the Al-Qibli prayer hall to the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock, reciting takbirs and chants for Gaza and its people and Jerusalem.

I’tikaf in Al-Aqsa

Since Thursday night, I'tikaf in the Al-Aqsa Mosque started and will continue until the end of Ramadan. After midnight, the forces prevented the people in I'tikaf from sitting and being in the Al-Aqsa Squares, and forced them to enter the roofed mosques "women to the old Al-Aqsa, and the men to the Al-Qibli prayer hall.”

A settler tries to break into Al-Aqsa

A settler tried to break into Al-Aqsa Mosque through Al-Majles Gate late Thursday evening, in conjunction with the Taraweeh prayer, and the guards confronted him.