Data from the Islamic Waqf Department show a clear trend of declining numbers of worshippers attending evening prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque on the holiest days of the holy month of Ramadan, Laylat al-Qadr, and the fourth Friday. The decline is evidence of the impact of Israel’s increasingly tight restrictions on entry to the city on these days for Palestinians holding Palestinian Authority (PA) IDs as well as entry to the Old City and the mosque itself.
Across the last four years, the highest attendance was seen in 2022, before the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. However, the decline started even before the war, as the month of Ramadan in 2023 ended around April 20, 2023.
Once the war broke out, of course, Jerusalem became virtually inaccessible to any Palestinian trying to access it from Gaza, and access from the rest of the West Bank also became more challenging with prolonged closures at the three available checkpoints and the addition of many new random checkpoints across the West Bank. Also, authorities closed off the Old City and the mosque itself with strict blockades or age limitations. But the most critical factor that prevented worshippers from reaching their holy site to pray was Israel’s permit regime and the contraction of the “eased restrictions” that Israel had previously allowed for on the four Fridays of Ramadan (see Jerusalem: A Closed City).
Even Jerusalemites who live in the city are facing individual bans and other prevention measures.
For an overview of all the ways that Israel restricts access for Palestinians wishing to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque, see the graphic How Israel Restricts Muslims’ Access to Pray in al-Aqsa Mosque.