Sources: Israeli Occupation Closes Aqsa Mosque

The Israeli occupation authorities closed a number of doors of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on the pretext of preventing “Coronavirus.”

Local sources said on Friday that the occupation authorities kept only three doors open for worshipers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque; which are Hatta, Majlis, and Silsilah.

In another context, hundreds of Jerusalem inhabitants performed the dawn prayers on Friday, in the grounds of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The sources reported that hundreds of Muslims responded to the dawn of the Isra call two days before the Isra-Mi'raj anniversary.

The Israʾ and Miʿraj are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621. In Islam, it signifies both a physical and spiritual journey.

In the meantime, Fadi Al-Hadmi, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs in the Palestinian National Authority, warned that the Israeli occupation authorities are using the Coronavirus crisis as a cover for their repressive practices against the Palestinian people and their settlement plans in the occupied land.

He said that while the world is uniting to confront the Coronavirus, the occupation authorities use the virus as a cover for its malicious plans to establish settlements, seize lands, arrest and suppress citizens, as it happens in Al-Isawiya and Silwan.

Hadmi indicated that the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and the Palestinian government are closely following reports on possible Israeli decisions to completely isolate East Jerusalem and leave its residents to their fate.

He pointed out that while the occupation authorities prevent the Palestinian local initiatives to provide a helping hand to the Palestinians in the city in order to limit the spread of the Coronavirus with false pretexts  that have nothing to do with humanity; these same authorities disclaim their role as an occupying power towards the population.

The Minister of Jerusalem Affairs stressed that the Palestinian National Authority is ready to assume full responsibilities in the city of East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, stressing that the dangerous conditions require a concerted effort from various sides and integration in providing services to the residents of Jerusalem in order to confront the virus and prevent its spread.