Israeli occupation forces clamped down today on Palestinian Muslim worshipers in the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood of Jerusalem, preventing them from reaching the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the weekly Friday prayer, according to witnesses.

They reported that Israeli occupation forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and toxic tear gas canisters on the worshipers, pursuing and physically assaulting some of them in the aftermath.

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 seventh consecutive Friday in which worshipers have been denied access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. This ongoing restriction has forced them 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.

Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA