Hundreds of Palestinians barred from Jerusalem's shrine on prayer day

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-28 23:26:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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RAMALLAH, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Palestinians on Friday were barred from going through the Israeli military checkpoint Qalandia located between Ramallah and East Jerusalem.

Palestinians heading for East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the collective Friday prayer have been stopped at the checkpoint since July 14.

"Here they have banned me. They banned me from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque," said a 57-year-old Palestinian citizen from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

"We will stay here until they allow us. If they don't, we will hold Friday prayers here," he added.

Israel used to allow men and women above 50 to enter Jerusalem for prayer on Friday without permits, but the policy seems to have been cancelled since the July 14 deadly shootings.

"For years, I have been used to coming here to pray, even on their (Jewish) holidays. They used to allow me to pass, but today they angered us, especially the elderly. They said we are barred. If we have a permit, we can pass, but without it we can't," another Palestinian man in his seventies told Xinhua.

Fierce clashes between Palestinians who protested the restrictions on access of worshippers, and Israeli forces broke out in and outside Jerusalem, local media reported.

Dozens of outraged Palestinians marched toward settlements and military posts in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus and clashed with Israeli forces who attempted to disperse them.

According to Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Israeli forces used live and rubber bullets as well as gas canisters to disperse the protesters, leaving more than 50 injured.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces arrested 120 Palestinians, and released 21 of them after several hours, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said on Friday morning.

At dawn on Thursday, Israeli authorities dismantled the metal detectors and surveillance cameras it installed at the entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque after two weeks of protests from Palestinians who refused to enter the mosque through Israeli security devices.

However, while hundreds from within Jerusalem were allowed into the Islamic shrine, thousands others from the West Bank were still barred.

The Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohamed Hussein said on Thursday that Palestinians demand free access into Al-Aqsa Mosque from all its gates and without age restrictions.

Israeli authorities shut down Al-Aqsa Mosque for two days since July 14, while clashes erupted in several locations in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, killing nine Palestinians and injuring over 500 others, with dozens arrested.

Under the public pressure, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to freeze all contact with Israel until all measures taken after July 14 are revoked.

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