The Israeli regime prevented Palestinian worshipers from performing Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) for the first time since 1969, forcing them to pray at its gates.
The closure was ordered by the Tel Aviv regime after two Israeli troops were killed by Palestinian resistance fighters fire near Al Aqsa compound in al-Quds's Old City, before they too were killed in a gunfight. Israeli forces said the three Palestinians when they opened fire on troops on patrol.
In the wake of the anti-occupation shooting, Israeli regime authorities banned Friday prayer at al-Aqsa and imposed a complete closure on the Old City.
Due to the Israeli ban, thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayer at al-Aqsa's gates and at military checkpoints erected throughout the city amid heavy presence of Israeli police forces.
Witnesses say the occupied city was turned into a military barracks which led to the outbreak of clashes, he reported.
Injuries were reported among the worshipers during the clashes, while the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, was detained shortly after delivering the Friday sermon.
Friday's shooting incident took place as Israeli forces killed an 18-year-old Palestinian earlier during a military raid in al-Duheisha refugee camp in the West Bank province of Beit Lahm.
Hamas slams al-Aqsa closure, hails anti-occupation operation
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has strongly condemned, in a statement issued Friday, the Israeli decision to ban Friday prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque and called for defying it.
Senior Hamas official Movement Abdul Rahman Shadid called on Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied al-Quds to reject the Israeli decision and to intensify their presence in al-Aqsa.
On the other hand, he hailed the heroic anti-occupation attack in al-Aqsa early Friday, saying that "Palestinian resistance proves its total readiness to counter any Israeli escalation at any time and at any place."
Today's shooting attack against Israeli police forces comes in response to the Israeli regime's earlier decision to allow Zionist settlers to desecrate al-Aqsa, Shadid underlined.
Turkey, Jordan, Qatar condemn move
Elsewhere, the head of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB), Mehmet Görmez criticized the Israeli regime's decision to close down the mosque.
"There is no justifiable excuse to prevent Muslims from praying at a holy place like the Al-Aqsa mosque," Görmez wrote on his official Twitter account.
Jordan, the custodian of the compound, also urged Israel to "immediately reopen" the mosque and denounced the violation of rules at Al-Aqsa.
Qatar strongly condemned on Friday the Israeli authorities' decision to ban Friday prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque.
Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement that closing the Mosque, preventing worshipers from entering it and announcing it a military zone constitute "flagrant violations of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites".
According to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Ministry asked the international community to put an end to these violations.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, who is currently visiting the Turkish capital, Ankara, stressed on Twitter his condemnation of the "unprecedented aggression" on al-Aqsa Mosque.
The last time Friday prayers were not held at the mosque was in late August 1969, a day after Michael Rohan, an Australian extremist Zionist, set the mosque on fire.
The Israeli regime occupied East al-Quds during the 1967 War. It later annexed the city in 1980, claiming all of al-Quds as the regime's "eternal" capital -- a move never recognized by the international community.
Sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, al-Quds is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/7529
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