For the primary time since 1967, al-Aqsa mosque – Jerusalem’s most delicate holy web site – can be closed at the tip of Ramadan on Friday, with tensions rising amongst Palestinians as Israeli authorities maintain the advanced shut, forcing worshippers to carry Eid prayers as shut as they will to the sealed web site.
On Friday morning a whole bunch of worshippers have been pressured to hope outdoors the Old City, as Israeli police barricaded the entrances to the location.
Because of safety issues associated to the US-Israeli warfare on Iran, on 28 February Israeli authorities had successfully sealed off the mosque complex in Jerusalem to most Muslim worshippers throughout Ramadan. Officials framed the transfer as a safety measure linked to the escalating confrontation with Iran, leaving hundreds of Palestinians to assemble and pray outside the gates of the Old City instead.
However, Palestinians say the transfer is a part of a wider Israeli technique to leverage safety tensions to tighten restrictions and entrench management over the al-Aqsa mosque advanced, often called al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, which additionally encompasses the seventh-century Dome of the Rock Islamic shrine. To Jews it’s the Temple Mount, the location of the Tenth-century BC first temple and second temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD70.
“Tomorrow will be the saddest day for Muslim worshippers in Jerusalem,” Hazen Bulbul, a 48-year-old Jerusalem resident who has marked the tip of Ramadan at al-Aqsa mosque since childhood, instructed the Guardian. “What I fear is that this sets a dangerous precedent. It may be the first time, but probably not the last. Israeli interference in the holy city has been escalating since 7 October [2023].”
In current months, there has been a sharp increase in arrests of Palestinian worshippers and non secular workers in the Old City, alongside repeated incursions into the advanced by Israeli settlers. Police have detained people contained in the mosque precinct, together with throughout prayer instances, and restricted entry for many Palestinians in search of to enter.
The Old City, normally crowded with Palestinians in the times main as much as Eid, was largely abandoned on Friday, with streets left unusually quiet.
Palestinian shopkeepers have been barred from opening most companies, with solely pharmacies and important meals retailers allowed to function. Traders stated the measures had pushed them into acute financial hardship.
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the preacher of al-Aqsa and former grand mufti of Jerusalem, has issued a spiritual ruling urging Muslims to perform Eid prayers at the closest possible point to the mosque. With a heavy safety presence in the alleys of the Old City, and Israeli forces finishing up searches and confronting residents, many concern that tensions over the mosque’s closure on the ultimate day of Ramadan might escalate into clashes with police.
The closure has drawn condemnation from the Arab League, which described it as a “blatant violation of international law” and stated it risked undermining freedom of worship and inflaming tensions throughout the area.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States and the African Union Commission have expressed their robust condemnation for the closure of al-Aqsa mosque to Muslim worshippers, “especially during the blessed month of Ramadan”.
In a joint statement, they stated the closure “constitutes a grave violation of the existing historical and legal status quo in the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem, an assault on the established religious rights and heritage of the Islamic nation, a provocation to the feelings of Muslims throughout the world, and a violation of freedom of worship and the sanctity of holy places”.
“Israel, the occupying power, the statement reads, “bears full responsibility for the consequences of these illegal and provocative measures.” It provides that their continuation “portends an escalation of violence and tension and threatens to undermine regional and international peace and security”.
Khalil Assali, the director of the media unit in the president’s workplace at al-Quds University, stated the mosque’s closure was “a catastrophe for Palestinians”.
He added: “When Israelis see young Palestinians trying to pray at the closest point to al-Aqsa mosque they run after them, they kick them out while they are praying.”
Sorrow and pleasure in the ruins of Gaza
Meanwhile, in Gaza a deepening humanitarian disaster grinds on, overshadowed by the broader warfare. Though extra sporadic, Israeli bombardments haven’t ceased, as a whole bunch of hundreds of Muslims put together to mark the tip of Ramadan amid the ruins of wrecked cities.
Gaza lives by Eid as a spot of stark contrasts – sorrow and fleeting pleasure, starvation and celebration, grief and the delicate resilience of day by day life – the place the sound of bombardment now mingles with these marking the tip of Ramadan.
“The joy of Eid is incomplete,” stated Sadeeqa Omar, 32, a mom of two kids who was displaced from northern Gaza to Deir al-Balah. “Each of us carries our own burdens. Some have lost their homes, others have lost family members. As for me, my husband is far away and cannot return to Gaza due to the closure of the crossings. Still, we try as much as we can to follow our religious teachings, which encourage us to show joy during Eid.”
“In the first year of the war, during Ramadan, we were displaced from al-Qarara,” stated Alaa Al-Farra, 49, who lives in Khan Younis. “This Eid will not be very different from previous Eids, as our movement remains limited due to sudden daily airstrikes.’’
After months of war, traces of tradition have cautiously returned. In crowded camps, the scent of kaek and maamoul pastries drifted from makeshift ovens fuelled by scraps, as families tried to recreate rituals many children have never known. Markets glowed with sweets and colour, but for many they remained out of reach – hands hovered then retreated, as parents settled for the smallest offerings to grant a momentary sense of festivity.
On Thursday, for the first time since Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza reopened, allowing some UN convoys in. Yet Eid’s joy is unevenly felt.
“Of course, there is a relative sense of safety after the ceasefire, but it is not enough,” stated Kholoud Baba, 42, from Gaza City. “Just last week, an area near our home in western Gaza was evacuated in preparation for an airstrike. This happened close to the Iftar time, forcing displaced people to leave without taking anything with them.”
Behind the subdued celebrations lies a panorama of loss: moms mourning kids killed in current strikes, and others marking the vacation in silence, stripped of its rituals, navigating Eid with little greater than reminiscence.
