80,000 Muslim worshipers pray peacefully at Al-Aqsa on first Friday of Ramadan

Some 80,000 Muslim worshipers — including several thousand Palestinians from the West Bank — gathered at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the first Friday noon prayer of Ramadan, which passed peacefully, under heavy security.

Each year, the Islamic holy month, which began Wednesday this week, sees Muslims from Israel and the West Bank throng the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, where thousands of police officers were deployed amid fears of unrest at the holy site that has frequently been a flashpoint for violence.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir toured the site ahead of prayers, warning that anyone who tried to disturb the peace would be “thrashed.”

Jerusalem’s Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian authority that administers the site, said 80,000 were in attendance. Last year, 90,000 people attended first Friday prayers; however, before the war that erupted with Hamas’s invasion and massacre in southern Israel in 2023, worshipers numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

Israeli authorities said some 8,500 West Bank Palestinians with permits to pray at Al-Aqsa crossed checkpoints into Jerusalem. Like last year, Israel capped the number of Palestinian worshipers from the West Bank attending the weekly Friday prayers at 10,000.

Only males aged 55 and up, women 50 and up, and children 12 and below when accompanied by a first-degree relative were permitted to attend prayers at Al‑Aqsa. The restrictions only apply to the West Bank Palestinians.

Worshipers trickled into the Old City throughout the morning, many carrying prayer mats and beads as shopkeepers sold children’s toys, bread and sweets to passersby. Once prayers ended, the crowd that had gathered in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound flowed out.

Extensive roadblocks manned by Border Police officers were placed throughout the area after prayers ended, leading many of those exiting to leave through Lion’s Gate, the easternmost entrance to the Old City.

Hundreds of worshipers also prayed outside the entrance to the Al-Aqsa, in a courtyard near Lion’s Gate. While most of those who remained outside the complex did so to beat the crowd on the way out, a handful were forbidden from entering after police issued restraining orders against them.

Police each year issue such orders to certain East Jerusalemites — many of them prominent figures in the local media — for fear their presence could spark disorder at the site, but Palestinians argue such steps are meant to punish political activity.

One of those forbidden from entering the site was Muhammad Abu Hummus, a well-known activist from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, who regularly films himself getting into heated verbal disputes with Israeli officers and politicians.

“I’m a normal person. Sure, I’m also an activist, but I don’t break the law,” he said to The Times of Israel, lamenting what he characterized as tighter restrictions on revelers this year.

He cited the police’s raiding and closure of the Old City’s Burj al-Luqluq (“Stork Tower”) community center the morning before Ramadan began, over alleged links to the Palestinian Authority. According to him, the Muslim holy month was the catalyst for the closure, after the community center’s staff refused to take down Ramadan decorations.

“When you go into the Old City now, you’d think you’re entering a Border Police base,” he said, accusing the government of approaching Ramadan “as if it’s a war.”

He also accused the Jerusalem Municipality of refusing to hang up lights outside Damascus Gate — a central gathering spot for Muslim worshipers breaking their fast after sundown — as has been done in years past.

He blamed the changes on Ben Gvir, claiming that the far-right politician has been able to leverage his power to cement Israeli control over the Temple Mount. The site is administered by Jordanian authorities, though Israeli police guard each entrance and accompany Jewish visitors up to the site.

Police, for their part, have bucked charges of discrimination and insist forces work solely to ensure worshipers’ safe arrival and guarantee “full freedom of worship for members of all faiths.”

Some Palestinians from the West Bank said they were turned away from crossing into Jerusalem even though they had permits. Jihad Bisharat said he was told his permit had been canceled and was sent back. The IDF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thousands of officers in the Jerusalem District police and Border Police were deployed throughout the Old City and its environs. Police said Ben Gvir, who oversees law enforcement in his ministerial role, conducted a “situational assessment” earlier in the morning at the site.

“Of course, there is freedom to worship, whoever wants to pray, ahlan wa’sahlan. Whoever comes to disturb the peace, we will thrash him,” the far-right minister said in a post announcing his visit, using a term that means “welcome” in Arabic.

“Through deterrence, we are achieving governance,” he wrote. “With deterrence, people don’t mess around, and that is how it should be and should continue.”

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the ancient biblical temples. Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary. It is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, and the iconic Dome of the Rock shrine.

The site has seen violence, particularly with large crowds gathering during Ramadan, and has seen clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces over the years, with Hamas using its religious symbolism as a means of rallying support.

Agencies contributed to this report.