Israel deployed police heavily in Jerusalem as tens of thousands of Palestinians headed to the city for noon prayers on the second Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Armed police and border guards were seen in what seemed like every street and alley of Old City surrounding cities.
For Palestinians from the West Bank, Friday was a rare chance to visit their capital and pray at Islam’s third holiest site: the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Thousands of Palestinians from Jerusalem and communities inside Israel were also expected.
According to Israeli restrictions, however, men under the age of 50 and women under 45 are still banned from entering the city and from praying at the mosque.
Nonetheless the surge of aspiring Muslim worshippers caused havoc at the few points where West Bank residents can enter Jerusalem.
As early as 8am, Palestinians from across the southern West Bank jammed into the concrete and barbed wire terminal, tangling traffic in area. Passage into Jerusalem slowed to a crawl as Israeli soldiers intensively checked each person’s ID card and passed their possessions through metal detectors.
Last Friday the Waqf, the Islamic endowment, estimated that 170,000 people prayed at the Al-Aqsa compound. Israeli police put the figure at 90,000.
Muslims worldwide are ending the second week of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting and prayer.
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