Muslims hold mass prayers at Jerusalem mosque

Jummah prayer at Al Aqsa Mosque

Tens of thousands of Muslims poured into the heavily guarded Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem for the last Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan. 

 

Israeli police put the number of worshippers at 160,000 to 170,000, while Muslim authorities said it exceeded 200,000.

"As in previous weeks, the police deployed 2,000 men around the mosque. They have not interfered, and the prayer has taken place with the utmost calm," police spokesman Shmulik Ben Ruby said.

The sprawling mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina. It is also the holiest site in Judaism because it was the location of the Second Temple, razed by the Romans in 70 AD.
 
The compound is inside Jerusalem's famed Old City in Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.
 

The fate of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in the Middle East peace process, with Israel claiming the entire city as its capital and the Palestinians demanding east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.

As with past Fridays, Israel limited access to the compound to men over the age of 50, women over the age of 40 and children, and only granted visiting permits to a limited number of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.
 

 The site has frequently been the site of violence, most notably in 2000 when the second Palestinian uprising erupted after a visit to the compound by Ariel Sharon, a right-wing politician who went on to become Israel's prime minister.

 

The holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, is expected to end on September 9 or 10, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
  
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