Thousands begin to gather at Western Wall for Passover priestly blessing

Thousands begin to gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for the semi-annual priestly blessing ceremony, amid simmering tensions.

The event, known in Hebrew as “birkat kohanim,” is held on the intermediate days of the Passover and Sukkot festivals. It usually draws tens of thousands of worshippers, with crowds spilling out from the wall’s plaza into the surrounding areas.

According to Channel 12 news, security officials are concerned that violence may spill over into the Western Wall plaza — hundreds of Palestinian worshippers reportedly barricaded themselves inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque in the flashpoint Temple Mount holy site, and Israeli forces prevented some Muslim worshipers from accessing the site for Ramadan prayers.

However it appeared that forces did not enter the mosque.