By James Mackenzie
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A limited number of older Palestinians were allowed into Jerusalem on the first Friday of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, in a wary climate stirred by a standoff over the Gaza ceasefire and an extended Israeli military campaign in the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Thursday that older Muslim worshippers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including men over the age of 55 and women over the age of 50, as well as children under 12 would be allowed to enter the al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers.
The mosque, on a site in Jerusalem’s Old City that Jews call the Temple Mount and revere as the site of two ancient temples, is a holy place for both religions and has long been a focus for clashes that have at times spiralled into wider conflict.
The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governance in the West Bank, said any restrictions on worshippers attending the mosque were in violation of Israel’s responsibilities as an occupying power.
The second Ramadan since the start of the war in Gaza came during a fragile truce that hangs in the balance, with Israel and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas far apart on whether to continue talks that could lead to an end to the conflict.
Under a ceasefire brokered by Egypt and Qatar, Hamas has returned 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais in return for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails, while Israeli troops have pulled back from some of their positions in Gaza, a narrow coastal enclave.
But it is unclear whether talks to release the remaining 59 hostages and complete the Israeli withdrawal will go ahead. U.S. President Donald Trump’s special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has held direct talks with Hamas and is expected to visit the region in the coming days.
Israel’s new military chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has been visiting troops since assuming command of the Israel Defence Forces this week and says the army is prepared to return to combat in Gaza if ordered.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops have been engaged for weeks in operations against refugee camps where they have demolished dozens of houses and destroyed roads and other infrastructure, sending tens of thousands of camp residents out of their homes.
The operation, which Israel says is directed against Iranian-backed militant groups entrenched in the camps, has increased tensions in the West Bank.
On Friday, there was a heavy deployment of police in Jerusalem’s walled Old City but no reports of serious trouble.
“The Israel police are spread out across Jerusalem and across Israel in order to allow the safe environment for the arrival of all these worshippers coming here,” police spokesperson Dean Elsdunne said.
For Hussein al-Far, from the city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, it was the first time in four or five years he had been able to travel to the al-Aqsa mosque. “It’s a great feeling,” he said as he passed through the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City.
In recent years, Israeli authorities have regularly restricted access to the mosque compound, citing security needs, and entry on Friday was conditional on approval from police, even for those qualified by age.
Ibtisam Abdul Fattah, a 65-year-old from the West Bank, said she had been turned back twice at the West Bank checkpoint of Qalandiya, just north of Jerusalem. “We are in our land but we are not allowed,” she said.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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