Over 100,000 worshippers performed Eid al-Adha prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, amid a heavy deployment of Israeli occupation forces and arrests in the vicinity of the mosque.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem estimated the number of worshippers who performed Eid al-Adha prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday morning at around 140,000.
This is the first time Palestinians have performed Eid prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque after the war with Iran, following the prevention of Eid al-Fitr prayers after Israel closed the mosque following the start of the Israeli-US war on Iran in February last year.
The closure forced worshippers at the time to perform prayers in the streets and squares leading to the mosque.
On Monday, Israeli forces deployed heavily around Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of Jerusalem as worshippers arrived at the mosque to perform Eid al-Adha prayers through the Asbat Gate (also known as the Lions' Gate).
Calls were issued to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem and Palestinians living withing Israel's 1948 borders to travel to and remain at Al-Aqsa Mosque and to observe Eid prayers in its courtyards in order to affrim the mosque's Islamic identity and to reinforce the Palestinian presence amid continued stormings of the mosque by Israeli extremists.
The mosque is regularly raided by Israelis who want to demolish it and build a Jewish temple in its place, under the protection of Israeli forces.
Israeli forces arrested a young woman after assaulting her and removing her hijab at Bab Hutta, one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Occupation forces also arrested journalist Saif al-Qawasmi inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and handed him a notice to report to its intelligence services before issuing him with a one-week ban from the mosque. Islamic Waqf employee Firas al-Dibs was also detained.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians performed Eid al-Adha prayers in mosques and public squares, while Eid sermons focused on the difficult conditions faced by the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
Several areas across the West Bank witnessed raids and incursions carried out by Israeli occupation forces, including house searches and the detention of several Palestinians in different locations.
Near Hebron, in the southern West Bank, a 13-year-old child was injured by rubber-coated metal bullets on Tuesday evening during an incursion by Israeli forces into the town of Bani Naim.
Palestinian Red Crescent crews took him to a hospital. Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here .