Nearly 160,000 people performed the last Friday prayer of Ramadan in the al-Aqsa Mosque despite the restrictions of Israel. Jerusalem Islamic Waqf provided a written statement about the number of people that attended the prayer in al-Aqsa. According to these estimates, approximately 160,000 people performed the last Friday prayer of Ramadan in the mosque. Thousands of Palestinians who came from the occupied West Bank took part in the congregation. Following the prayer, some Palestinians chanted slogans on the stairs of the Dome of the Rock, waving Palestinian flags. After the morning prayer, the Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa Mosque and clashed with a young Palestinian group using rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades. The Palestinian Red Crescent announced that the first aid was given to 42 people who got injured during the raid, and that 22 of these were hospitalized. Palestinians who live in the occupied West Bank are required to get a special permit to visit their relatives within Israel or to be able to go to sacred places like al-Aqsa Mosque, which is located past the West Bank Barrier built by Israel. To be able to leave West Bank, Palestinians have to use one of the 23 military checkpoints across the West Bank Barrier. In the occupied West Bank, in the month of Ramadan, Israel does not permit men between the ages of 12 and 40 to enter al-Aqsa, which is located in the occupied East Jerusalem. Whereas women, children, and men above 50 can enter al-Aqsa after passing through military checkpoints. Men aged 40-50, on the other hand, are required to get special permission to enter al-Aqsa.
