JERUSALEM, May 22, 2018 (WAFA) – To prevent Palestinians from sitting on the steps outside Jerusalem‘s Damascus Gate courtyard, Israeli police Tuesday placed iron barriers on the stone stairs deeming them inaccessible to visitors of the Old City, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said police left only a small corridor outlined by iron barriers for people to walk through to get into the Old City.

Dozens of Palestinians occasionally sit at Damascus Gate after they finish the special Ramadan night prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, known as "taraweeh" prayers, where around 50,000 Muslims normally attend the prayers every night.

According to the correspondent, the police did not want the Palestinians to have a good time sitting on hot summer nights at the entrance to Damascus Gate and therefore blocked it with metal barriers leaving them only a walking space into the Old City.

This action comes to harass the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem during the holy fast month of Ramadan and to disrupt the festive atmosphere of Ramadan nights.

M.K.