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.



Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Türkiye had the power and ability to "crush" all terrorists in Syria, including ISIS and Kurdish militants, while urging all countries to "take their hands off" Syria.

Since last month's fall of Bashar al-Assad, Türkiye has said repeatedly it was time for the Kurdish YPG militia to disband. Ankara considers the group, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization.

Ankara has said the new Syrian administration must be given an opportunity to address the YPG presence, but also threatened to mount a new cross-border operation against the militia based in northeast Syria if its demands are not met.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said the YPG was the biggest problem in Syria now, and added that the group would not be able to escape its inevitable end unless it lays down its arms.

"Regarding fabricated excuses like ISIS, these have no convincing side anymore," Erdogan said, referring to the US position that the YPG was a key partner against ISIS in Syria and that it plays a vital role guarding prison camps where the extremist militants are kept.

"If there is really a fear of the ISIS threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Türkiye," he said.

"Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian siblings, will crush the heads of ISIS, the YPG and other terrorist organizations in a short time."

Türkiye has repeatedly asked its NATO ally the United States to halt support for the SDF, and has said the new administration in Syria had offered to take over the management of the prisons. 

Later on Wednesday , Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara is ready to provide support to the new Syrian administration for the management of ISIS camps in the country.

"As we have always said, we are also ready to provide the necessary assistance to the new administration in the management of ISIS camps and prisons," Fidan said.

Speaking in Ankara following his meeting with his Syrian counterpart Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, Fidan also said diplomatic efforts will continue to ensure the removal of sanctions against Syria.