Sheikh Omar Al-Kiswani, director of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, confirmed that the mosque will still be open today for worshipers for Friday prayers.
Al-Kiswani pointed out that the sermon will be brief.
Al-Kiswani added that they are in the Awqaf Department and the Directorate of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque assure that the mosque will be open as the rest of the other Fridays.
He affirmed that all necessary measurements have been taken to secure the safety of the main mosque and the other shrines near it.
Experts sterilized the roofed mosques, the Southern Mosque, the Dome of the Holy Rock, the Marwani Mosque and Al-Buraq Mosque.
He explained that there was no communication with the occupation police and they did not ask the guardians of Al-Aqsa to close it as was it is rumored.
"Therefore, Friday sermon will be brief and we have taken all measures and we ask God Almighty to protect our people from all evil," he said.
Yesterday, the Hebrew media outlets claimed that the occupation authorities demanded the closure of Al-Aqsa during Friday prayers, over the fear of the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the holy city of Jerusalem.
The Hebrew Radio quoted the Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Ardan, as requesting the Israeli National Security Council to prevent worshipers from the West Bank from accessing the mosque to perform the prayer and limit the prayers in the mosque to Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and the Palestinian interior behind the green line.
In a rare move, Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials met Thursday to coordinate joint efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19.
Both sides shared information that has been gathered so far about the spread of the global pandemic and coordinated stances about future steps to deal with the disease.
In addition, the PA and Israeli officials decided to cooperate on epidemiologic investigations, particularly those involving tourists who visited both Israel and the PA-controlled West Bank.
The Population and Immigration Authority published an updated list of countries from which foreigners are barred entry to Israel.
The countries are as follows: South Korea, Japan, Chania, Macau, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Switzerland, Andorra, Austria, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Germany, San Marino, Italy, France, and Spain
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