Huge Palestinian Demos over Sacred al-Aqsa lead Israel to lift all Restrictions

Head of public relations at the Waqf Firas al-Dibs told Ma’an that Israeli forces had opened all gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque and lifted restrictions banning Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering the holy compound, which was enforced by Israeli authorities since Friday morning.

During dhuhr (noon) prayers, when protests erupted across the occupied Palestinian territory, scores of Palestinians were prevented from praying at Al-Aqsa amid two weeks of unrest over Israeli policies at the holy site.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said that the security measures at Al-Aqsa were only meant to apply to dhuhr prayers on Friday, adding that after the noon prayer Palestinians of all ages would be permitted to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque.

احتفالات المقدسيين بعد فتح #باب_حطة وجميع أبواب الأقصى الآن دون تحديد أعمار ✌?#القدس_تنتصر pic.twitter.com/W6jClebsVU

— المُهَاجـِرة (@Marwa_waz) July 28, 2017

Mahmoud added that the Palestinians were released under the following conditions: if they were a resident of the Old City in Jerusalem, they were banned from Al-Aqsa Mosque for two weeks; If they lived outside the Old City, they were banned from the Old City for two weeks; If residing outside of Jerusalem, they were banned from Jerusalem for two weeks.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society had reported earlier on Friday that 21 Palestinians were banned from Al-Aqsa for 15 days.

What was hailed as a rare victory for Palestinians, after thousands participated in a nearly two-week civil disobedience campaign and successfully demanded the removal of Israeli security measures at the holy site, was quickly transformed into violent clashes on Thursday when Israeli forces raided Al-Aqsa Mosque as thousands of Palestinians had entered the site for the first time since July 14.

Israeli authorities subsequently imposed new restrictions on the compound Friday morning, barring Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam.

Palestinians continued mass demonstrations across the occupied Palestinian territory in protest of the new restrictions on Al-Aqsa. The protests turned deadly after a 16-year-old Palestinian was shot to death by Israeli forces in Gaza, while another Palestinian in the Jerusalem-area town of al-Ram was reported in critical condition after being shot by Israeli-fired live ammunition.

According to Ma’an documentation, six Palestinians were killed by Israelis, one of whom was killed by an Israeli settler, since mass protests were organized among Palestinians over the past week to protest Israel’s policies at Al-Aqsa.

Palestinians have celebrated their successful protests around Al-Aqsa in the context of routine Israeli violations of Palestinian life and properties in East Jerusalem, which makes such victories seldom amid Israel’s continued occupation of the territory.

Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who are unable to obtain Israeli permits have never been able to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Via Ma’an News Agency

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Related video added by Juan Cole:

EuroNews: “Jerusalem tense as age limit imposed on al-Aqsa mosque”