842 non-Muslims visit site; Palestinians barricade inside Al-Aqsa Mosque overnight, but police don't enter; unlike last week, says Dermer, those inside were not planning violence
April 17, 2021
The coronavirus has limited Ramadan prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the second year in a row, with Israeli-enforced restrictions preventing thousands of Palestinians from worshipping at the holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Citing the pandemic’s “high morbidity rates” in the Palestinian territories, Israel gave permits to 10,000 fully vaccinated Palestinians a fraction of the hundreds of thousands living in the West Bank and Israel who usually attend Friday prayers during the Islamic holy month. The measures are being taken to allow freedom of worship and religion on one hand, and on the other hand, prevent to the extent possible the spread of COVID-19 in the region,” said the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a branch of Israel’s Defense Ministry.