February 28, 2025 | 05:29 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Israel stated on Thursday that it would restrict Palestinian Muslim visits to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this weekend.
During Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians typically come to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam located in East Jerusalem, a sector in the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel.
This year, Ramadan coincides with a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, largely halting fighting after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 48,360 people in the Palestinian territory.
"The usual restrictions for public safety will be in place as they have been every year," claimed Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer in an online briefing to journalists, as quoted from Arab News.
Last year, amid the Gaza war, the Israeli government imposed restrictions on visitors to Al Aqsa Mosque, particularly for Palestinians coming from the occupied West Bank.
Only men aged 55 and above and women aged 50 and above were allowed to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque complex "for security reasons," while thousands of Israeli police officers were deployed throughout the Old City of Jerusalem.
Mencer indicated that the restrictions will be applied again this year.
"What we cannot, of course, and no country would countenance is people seeking to foment violence and attacks on anyone else," he claimed, without specifying the deployment of police this year.
The Al Aqsa Mosque complex is a symbol of Palestinian national identity.
Based on a longstanding convention, Jewish people are allowed to visit but not to pray at the compound, which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
In recent years, an increasing number of Jewish ultranationalists have opposed the regulation, including far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who openly prayed there while serving as national security minister in 2023 and 2024.
The Israeli government has repeatedly stated that they intend to maintain the status quo at the compound. However, Palestinian concerns about the future of the site have made it a flashpoint for violence.
Last year, Israel allowed Muslims to worship at Al Aqsa Mosque in the same numbers as the previous year despite the raging war in Gaza.
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