Israel restricts access into Al-Aqsa for prayers

Israeli army imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem ahead of the weekly Friday prayers.

Israeli police deployed thousands of forces and erected roadblocks at major junctions leading to Jerusalem's Old City

Israeli authorities also banned Palestinian male worshippers under 50 from entering the city and Al-Aqsa Mosque for the weekly prayer, the second in the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

"I left Nablus after dawn prayers and am still waiting at Qalandia checkpoint to get access into East Jerusalem to perform the Friday prayers and spend the day inside Al-Aqsa Mosque," said Wael Shakhshir, 50.

He lamented that he had been denied access into the Al-Aqsa Mosque last week by Israeli forces.

Shakhshir is accompanied by his wife and son Mohamed, 13, who is feeling thrilled by his visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. "I saw Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in my schoolbooks but today I will see it," Mohamed said.

"I cried a lot when Israeli soldiers did not allow us to accesses last Friday. I hope they will allow us today," he added.

The Israeli restrictions come amid expectations of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces over ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which left at least 98 people dead since Monday.

Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, have fired barrages of rockets into Israeli cities in response to unrelenting Israeli attacks.

The latest escalation comes amid heightened tension over the killing of three teenage Jewish settlers in the West Bank last month and the subsequent murder of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy by Jewish settlers.

Sacred to both Muslims and Jews, Jerusalem is home to the iconic Al-Aqsa Mosque, which for Muslims represents the world's third holiest site.

Jews refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.