Against the backdrop of conflict with Iran, Israel canceled Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel’s Civil Administration has cancelled Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported.

 

The move is the latest in a series of restrictions imposed by Israel at Islam’s third-holiest site since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

 

Civil Administration Chief Brigadier General Hisham Ibrahim said on Thursday via the Israeli army’s Al-Munasiq platform that the decision was taken in light of Iran’s retaliatory strikes against “Israel and the entire region”.

 

On February 28, Israel and its close ally, the United States, launched a military offensive against Iran.

 

According to the head of Israel’s governing body in the occupied West Bank, all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City — including the Western Wall, the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — will also be closed on Friday. Worship and visits by people of all religions will be prohibited.

 

Reports say that retaliatory Iranian missile strikes have so far killed 10 people in Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli and US attacks on Iran have caused at least 1,230 deaths.

 

Since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, Israeli authorities have allowed access to the Old City only for residents and shop owners.

 

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, one of the senior imams at Al-Aqsa Mosque, strongly criticized Israel’s decision to close the mosque.

 

“The occupation authorities are exploiting any occasion to close Al-Aqsa. This is completely unjustified,” he said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

 

However, Israeli restrictions were in place even before the war began. Last month, Israeli authorities announced that no more than 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank would be allowed to enter the mosque compound for the first Friday prayer of Ramadan.

 

This represents only a small fraction of the numbers that traditionally gathered there in previous years. The Al-Aqsa compound can accommodate up to half a million people at a time.

 

Jerusalem’s Old City is located in occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed. This move is considered a violation of international law.

 

Although the administrative management of the Al-Aqsa compound is under Jordan’s authority, access to the site itself is controlled by Israeli security forces.

 

Under the decades-old “status quo” arrangement, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

 

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly said that Jews should have the right to pray at the Al-Aqsa compound and has spoken out against the current “status quo”. In 2024, he also stated that he intended to build a synagogue on the compound.