150,000 Palestinians attend Friday prayers al-Aqsa Mosque, defying restrictions

At least 150,000 Palestinians have thronged al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Old City of al-Quds to attend Friday prayers amid heightened tensions over Israeli raids.

Officials from the Islamic Waqf department, which is in charge of the al-Aqsa Mosque, said about 150,000 people, mostly Palestinians from the al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Israeli occupied territories, offered prayers at the mosque compound defying restrictions imposed on the entry of worshipers to the holy site.

Palestine's official Wafa news agency said Israeli occupation forces barricaded multiple roads and alleys leading to the Old City of al-Quds, forcing Palestinians to take longer routes to reach the mosque.

Israeli forces also deployed large numbers of troops at the gates leading to the holy site, inspecting the identity cards of worshipers and subjecting them to body frisking.

The news agency said thousands of Palestinians prayed at Israeli checkpoints leading to the Old City of al-Quds from the occupied West Bank after being blocked from entering the holy city.

Earlier in the day, Israeli forces raided the mosque after dawn prayers and fired rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at the Palestinian worshipers at the Dome of the Rock inside the compound.

Wafa cited the Palestinian Red Crescent as saying that at least 31 worshipers were injured in the gruesome attack while many others suffered suffocation from tear gas inhalation.

It said two of the injured people were critical, while 11 others had been transferred to the hospital.

MG