Israel heavily curbs Palestinians from Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa

Israel says it will allow only 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to enter, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of worshippers of previous years.Published On 20 Feb 2026Israel is severely restricting Palestinians’ access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, with many hundreds queueing at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, hoping and waiting to get in.But Israeli authorities say they will allow no more than 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank into one of Islam’s holiest sites for the day, and only with permits – a fraction of the number who have visited to mark the occasion in previous years.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UN says Israel is stoking ‘ethnic cleansing’ fears in Gaza, West Banklist 2 of 3The quiet conquest of the West Bank and the death of the Oslo Accordslist 3 of 3Trump announces billions of dollars in Gaza aid at Board of Peace meetingend of listOnly children under the age of 12, men over 55, and women 50 years or older are eligible.Israel’s Channel 12 reported that only about 2,000 Palestinians were able to cross through the Qalandiya checkpoint towards Jerusalem by the morning, amid a state of Israeli military high alert at checkpoints separating the West Bank and East Jerusalem.Palestinian worshippers line up to pass through the Israeli military’s Qalandiya checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem in hopes of attending Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on Friday, February 20, 2026 [Leo Correa/AP]‘Getting to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is part of Palestinian tradition’“There are 3.3 million people in the occupied West Bank … so allowing only 10,000 to pray on this first Friday or Ramadan is a drop in the ocean, and only a trickle have been able to make it in,” Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reported from the Qalandiya checkpoint.“In previous years, we’ve seen up to 250,000 worshippers in that holy site, and now only a fraction of that is expected. And it will be from the occupied West Bank, from occupied East Jerusalem itself and Palestinian-Israeli citizens from inside Israel proper.”