{"id":12881,"date":"2026-02-20T10:31:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12881"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:31:49","slug":"israel-heavily-curbs-palestinians-from-ramadan-friday-prayers-at-al-aqsa-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12881","title":{"rendered":"Israel heavily curbs Palestinians from Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Israel says it will allow only 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to enter, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of worshippers of previous years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">2 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 20 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">20 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">Israel is severely restricting Palestinians\u2019 access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, with many hundreds queueing at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, hoping and waiting to get in.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">But Israeli authorities say they will allow no more than 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank into one of Islam\u2019s holiest sites for the day, and only with permits \u2013 a fraction of the number who have visited to mark the occasion in previous years.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">Only children under the age of 12, men over 55, and women 50 years or older are eligible.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s Channel 12 reported that only about 2,000 Palestinians were able to cross through the Qalandiya checkpoint towards Jerusalem by the morning, amid a state of Israeli military high alert at checkpoints separating the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4326338\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4326338\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4326338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26051263724978-1771580853.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"OWB Friday Prayers in Ramadan\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4326338\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Palestinian worshippers line up to pass through the Israeli military\u2019s Qalandiya checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem in hopes of attending Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on Friday, February 20, 2026 [Leo Correa\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"getting-to-al-aqsa-mosque-compound-is-part-of-palestinian-tradition\">\u2018Getting to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is part of Palestinian tradition\u2019<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">\u201cThere are 3.3 million people in the occupied West Bank \u2026 so allowing only 10,000 to pray on this first Friday or Ramadan is a drop in the ocean, and only a trickle have been able to make it in,\u201d Al Jazeera\u2019s Nour Odeh reported from the Qalandiya checkpoint.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">\u201cIn previous years, we\u2019ve seen up to 250,000 worshippers in that holy site, and now only a fraction of that is expected. And it will be from the occupied West Bank, from occupied East Jerusalem itself and Palestinian-Israeli citizens from inside Israel proper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">In the meantime, she added, \u201chundreds of people are still stuck at the checkpoint trying to get inside, trying to make it to the holy mosque, but are being barred.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">Odeh said the new restrictions are attempting to break bonds between communities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">\u201cGetting to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is part of the Palestinian tradition, which has been going on for generations, for hundreds of years. Spending the day there is extremely important; it\u2019s part of the heritage of Palestinians,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">But this year, she added, many \u201cwill not be allowed to break their fast in Jerusalem as they\u2019re used to, and that is just one more way that Israel is severing ties between occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied West Bank\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4326340\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4326340\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4326340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26051205952321-1771580900.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"OWB Friday prayers , Ramadan \" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4326340\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Palestinian worshippers line up to pass through the Israeli military\u2019s Qalandiya checkpoint between the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and occupied East Jerusalem on their way to attend Friday prayers, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on Friday, February 20, 2026 [Leo Correa\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel says it will allow only 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to enter, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of worshippers of previous years. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a02 mins info Published On 20 Feb 202620 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Israel is severely restricting Palestinians\u2019 access [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}