Large Crowds for Ramadan Prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa

Palestinians attending the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s old city, 24 March 2023. (EPA)
Palestinians attending the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s old city, 24 March 2023. (EPA)
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Large Crowds for Ramadan Prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa

Palestinians attending the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s old city, 24 March 2023. (EPA)
Palestinians attending the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s old city, 24 March 2023. (EPA)

Muslim worshippers packed Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound for noon prayers on the fourth Friday of the holy month of Ramadan under heightened Israeli police presence.
The prayers ended peacefully amid a year-long escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Israeli police raids at the sacred compound last week triggered rocket attacks from Gaza, southern Lebanon and Syria that drew Israeli air and artillery strikes, Reuters said.

Following the cross-border flare-up, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that, as in previous years, visits by non-Muslims to the site, known to Jews as Temple Mount, will be halted until the end of Ramadan, expected around April 20, depending on the moon.

Police said more than 2,000 officers operated in Jerusalem on Friday "to maintain security and order, and to ensure the freedom of worship for all denominations and religions".

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted a photo of him surrounded by Border Police officers as they conducted a security assessment near the compound in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed following a 1967 Middle East war in a move not recognized internationally.

There were differing estimates of the number of worshippers, with the Israeli police putting the number at 130,000, while the Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed Islamic organization that manages the complex, placed the number at 250,000.

"There is no room for compromise on Al-Aqsa or space for negotiations around it and we will not give up one iota of its land," former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Ekrima Sabri said at the Friday sermon, after expressing appreciation for the strong turnout of Muslim worshippers throughout the holy month.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians lined up at military checkpoints in the early morning hours to cross from the Israeli-occupied West Bank into Jerusalem.

Israel claims Jerusalem, including the walled Old City in the east with all its sacred sites, as its eternal and undivided capital. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state in the West Bank and Gaza.

As Muslims flocked to Al-Aqsa, Orthodox Christians held Good Friday processions in the Old City's narrow alleyways and Jewish worshippers prayed at the Western Wall.

Friday also marked the annual "Quds (Jerusalem) Day", when Iran holds rallies in support of Palestinians. Iran backs Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups fighting Israel, which Tehran does not recognize.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged in recent months, with frequent military West Bank raids and escalating settler violence amid a spate of Palestinian street attacks.

More than 90 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed since January.



Israeli Army Plans to Remain in Gaza Until End of 2025

Palestinians search the rubble of a house targeted by an Israeli army strike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians search the rubble of a house targeted by an Israeli army strike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Army Plans to Remain in Gaza Until End of 2025

Palestinians search the rubble of a house targeted by an Israeli army strike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians search the rubble of a house targeted by an Israeli army strike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Despite the debate in Tel Aviv between the political leadership and the military establishment over the objective of the fighting in Gaza, sources on Friday confirmed that the two sides agreed on the principle of “continuing and even escalating the war” in the Palestinian enclave.

The political leadership says that defeating Hamas is Israel's main goal while the military leadership says it is a mistake to prioritize fighting over the release of the hostages.

A military official in Tel Aviv said that during high-level security consultations with senior ministers and military officials held early on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a plan for the army to remain in the Gaza Strip until at least the end of the year.

The plan will become official on Sunday, following a vote by the government cabinet, the official said.

He noted that the Army is expected to call up thousands of reservists as it readies for a significant expansion of its ongoing military operation in Gaza.

Netanyahu also approved a reserve call-up and the movement of troops between the West Bank, Syria and Lebanon, the official added.

He said that calling up reservists was being carried out solely out of “practical and operational interests,” amid mounting letters signed by more than 200,000 veterans calling for a hostage deal with Hamas.

The military official said that the Israeli army’s most important mission remains returning the 59 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, roughly 24 of whom are presumed alive, while collapsing the group’s rule over the Strip was secondary, contrary to the position of Netanyahu, who said on Thursday that “victory” over the group, not the return of the hostages, was the supreme objective of the war in Gaza.

“The supreme mission that the Israeli army is dealing with is our moral duty to return the hostages. The second mission is defeating Hamas. We are working to advance both goals, with the return of the hostages being at the top (of the list of priorities),” the military official said.

Following the multi-hour security meeting with Netanyahu, an Israeli official told the Ynet news site, “As long as Hamas does not release our hostages, we will significantly deepen our military action. That is what will happen unless Hamas agrees at the last moment to a deal and releases the hostages.”

Last Monday, Hebrew media outlets said Israel rejected a five-year truce proposal with Hamas in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages.

Observers said Netanyahu is now more than ever determined to continue the war. The PM is convinced that a ceasefire will open the door to an internal war aimed at overthrowing his government.

The only obstacle to Netanyahu’s plan remains the position of President Donald Trump’s administration which is pushing for a Gaza ceasefire deal ahead of the President’s mid-May Middle East tour.

Political sources in Tel Aviv said Netanyahu aims to influence Trump's thinking and convince him to endorse his plans for continuing the war in Gaza.