For the third Friday in a row, Israeli authorities prevented Palestinian Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque and assaulted them with rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.

Israeli occupation forces assaulted Palestinian Muslim worshippers in Jerusalem on Friday, preventing them from reaching the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the weekly Friday prayer, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli occupation forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters, and used water cannons on the worshippers, pursuing and physically assaulting some of them in the aftermath.

For 3rd Friday prayers in a row;

Israel again took intense security measures to restrict entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque for Palestinian teenagers in occupied East Jerusalem ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/MfhZxKQdDp

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) October 27, 2023

Only a few managed to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the Friday prayers, as Israeli occupation authorities prevented hundreds from entering the holy site and imposed strict military measures around the Old City.

This marks the third consecutive Friday in which worshippers have been denied access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The ongoing restriction has forced Palestinian worshippers to perform their prayers in the streets of the adjacent Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood, which is close to the Old City where the mosque is situated.

(WAFA, PC)