Dozens of Muslims pray outside Jerusalem's Old City, as Israeli authorities close holy sites

Описание: (6 Mar 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerusalem – 6 March 2026
1. Various of worshippers praying near Damascus Gate
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raed al-Aisawi, Jerusalem resident:
“They have deprived us of praying at Al-Aqsa since Saturday. Don’t forget that we are in the blessed month of Ramadan. For us, even on ordinary days, we must pray at Al-Aqsa. So how about on Fridays? Every time they close it off to us, we try as much as possible to pray and establish the prayer around the walls of Al-Aqsa.”
3. Various of Israeli police forces at entrance to Damascus gate
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dean Elsdunne, Israeli police spokesman:
“As you can see behind me, we're standing in the old city of Jerusalem, where because of the fact that Israel is under the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, the Home Front Command has issued a number of safety directives that are here to save lives. Some of these being that the holy sites are closed. Now the sites that are closed are all of the sites for all religions. It's not subject to just one religion or the other. And we've seen the importance of this directive by just a few days ago when the Iranian missile warhead landed just a few hundred meters from these holy sites.”
5. Police near Damascus gate

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ramallah, West Bank – 6 March 2026
7. Wide of people gathering outside a mosque in the West Bank city of Ramallah for Friday prayers
8. Worshippers gathered for Friday prayer in a mosque
9. Close up of man listening to the Friday sermon
10. Wide of worshippers during Friday prayer
11. Wide of worshippers leaving a mosque
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Anwar Hamam, Ramallah resident:
“This war is a crazy war, led by the United States and Israel, and therefore its effects will be catastrophic for the entire region. It is necessary to stop it without delay, because its effects will be disastrous for the entire Middle East and the world."
13. Wide of worshippers listening to the Friday sermon
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jumaa Hamdan, Imam of al-Bireh grand mosque:
"Al-Aqsa is a sacred mosque, being the first of the two Qiblas (direction of prayer, second being Mecca), the second of the two mosques, and the third of the holy sanctuaries. It should not be associated with any events, and it should not be closed. Closing Al-Aqsa Mosque is not permissible under any legislation or religion."
15. Wide of people walking through a busy market street ahead of Friday prayers
16. Busy market stalls
17. Wide of mosque minaret
STORYLINE:
Dozens of Muslim worshippers prayed outside Jerusalem’s Old City on the third Friday of Ramadan after Israeli authorities closed the holy sites in the city.

Dean Elsdunne, Israeli police spokesman, said the holy sites were closed as part of "safety directives."

Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim said in a statement posted on Facebook that all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City — including Christianity’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Judaism’s Western Wall — would remain closed “to maintain public safety and protect people.”

The move affect tens of thousands of Muslims who flock to pray at the compound on Fridays during Ramadan.

“They have deprived us of praying at Al-Aqsa since Saturday," said Raed al-Aisawi, a Jerusalem resident.

"Every time they close it off to us, we try as much as possible to pray and establish the prayer around the walls of Al-Aqsa," he added.

The closures will affect worshippers of all faiths.

But historically, changes to the “status quo” governing Palestinian access to the mosque and surrounding compound have been politically sensitive.







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