JERUSALEM, February 26, 2025 (WAFA) – The Jerusalem Governorate has warned of an impending escalation by Israeli occupation forces as the holy month of Ramadan approaches, calling for the lifting of restrictive measures and the guarantee of freedom of worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Governorate stated that the Israeli authorities intend to impose a series of provocative and discriminatory measures against Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan. These measures will include limiting the number of worshippers at the mosque to only a few thousand, allowing 10,000 worshippers from the West Bank to attend Friday prayers, in clear violation of Muslims' right to worship, and preventing recently freed prisoners from entering the mosque. Additionally, entry to the mosque for worshippers from the West Bank will be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50.
The Governorate further noted that the Israeli authorities are intensifying their military presence by deploying 3,000 police officers daily at the checkpoints surrounding Jerusalem. They have also tightened their grip on 82 military checkpoints, which include placing earth mounds, iron gates and the apartheid wall, effectively isolating Palestinian neighborhoods from the heart of the city and from each other.
This is part of an ongoing effort to suffocate the movement of worshippers and terrorize them, stressed the Jerusalem Governorate in a statement.
Furthermore, the Israeli authorities continue to reinforce surveillance and repression centers in the Old City, where five police centers are stationed near the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, conducting random detentions of worshippers and humiliating them under false security pretenses, in a clear embodiment of a systematic ethnic cleansing policy.
The Governorate emphasized that the holy month of Ramadan is a month of worship, and international agreements, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, guarantee freedom of worship for peoples under occupation.
The Convention ensures the freedom to practice religious rites, protects places of worship, and guarantees the prohibition of religious discrimination, said the statement. It explicitly addresses religious freedom and prohibits occupation forces from intervening in religious practices, obligating them to protect sacred sites, it added.
The Jerusalem Governorate stressed that Israeli authorities have no right, under any circumstances, to impose military barriers, restrictions, or interference to prevent citizens from reaching the mosque. It considered all Israeli measures in Jerusalem and its holy sites to be null and void, viewing them as part of the Israeli right-wing government's efforts to escalate the conflict and facilitate the implementation of its colonial expansionist plans.
The Governorate called on the Palestinian people within the 1948 occupied territories to intensify their presence at Al-Aqsa Mosque, in order to thwart the occupation's plans. It also urged Arab and Islamic countries, as well as the international community, to assume their responsibilities and take immediate action to halt these violations.
T.R.
