250,000 Muslims pray at Aqsa Mosque

250,000 Muslim worshipers performed Friday’s noon prayers at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque despite the Israeli tight restrictions. According to the Islamic Awqaf (Endowment) Department in Occupied Jerusalem, 250,000 worshipers prayed at al-Aqsa.
Thousands of worshipers from the occupied West Bank have flocked to the Mosque at the crack of dawn amid tight security measures imposed by the Israeli occupation army. The Israeli soldiers reportedly banned Muslim men aged below 45 from entering Occupied Jerusalem.
The occupation police also sealed off the main access roads to Occupied Jerusalem and banned buses from reaching the parks, resulting in a traffic jam. An Israeli surveillance balloon and a reconnaissance aircraft were seen hovering over the territory at the same time as dozens of Israeli cops were stationed across Occupied Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, a rally was staged near the Qibli Mosque by the families of eight Palestinian youths killed by the Israeli army to push for the release of their children’s bodies. The rally-goers called on the Israeli occupation to release the bodies of slain Palestinians, some among whom have been withheld for the ninth month running.
Palestinian anti-occupation youths also raised Hamas flags, expressing their unyielding support for armed resistance against the Israeli occupation.