RAMALLAH, Sunday, April 16, 2023 (WAFA) – Orthodox churches in Palestine and elsewhere around the world are celebrating the first day of Easter today.

On this occasion, prayers and masses are being held in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and in the other Orthodox churches in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and Jericho. In Ramallah, Jenin and Nablus, all churches are celebrating the holiday according to the Orthodox calendar.

Yesterday, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in occupied Jerusalem's Old City witnessed the emergence of the Holy Fire, which was later was transferred from the Old City of Jerusalem to the rest of the Palestinian governorates as well as a number of countries around the world.

During the hours that preceded the event, the Israeli occupation police checkpoints at the gates leading to Jerusalem’s Old City obstructed access of Palestinian Christians and other pilgrims to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to take part in the Holy Fire ceremony.

The Israeli police decided last week to limit the number of people who can be at the church to around 2000, including police officers, a decision strongly rejected by the Orthodox churches and the Palestinian Christian community in general who say that the number of visitors of the Holy Sepulcher every year is normally ten times this number and demanded freedom of access to the religious sites to all who want to be there.

M.N