90K Palestinians attend the first Friday prayers of Ramadan in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — In the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, about 90,000 Palestinians prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City under tight security by Israeli forces.

Thousands made their way from the West Bank into Jerusalem after Israel allowed men over 55 and women over 50 to enter from the territory for the prayers. Tensions have risen in the West Bank in the past weeks amid Israeli raids on terrorists. There was no immediate sign of frictions in Jerusalem on Friday.

However, Palestinian authorities said Israeli soldiers had stormed eight mosques around the city of Nablus, in the north of the West Bank.

For many Palestinians, Friday marked their first opportunity to enter Jerusalem since last Ramadan about a year ago, when Israel also let in worshippers under similar restrictions.

The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took a total of 251 people hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements. Hamas is believed to still have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were terrorists.

Since the outbreak of the war, the Israeli government has blocked Palestinians in the West Bank from crossing to Jerusalem or visiting Israel.

Hamas on Friday released video footage of Israeli hostage Matan Angrest in captivity and claimed that remaining hostages feel the Israeli government has abandoned them.

In the video, Angrest, an Israeli soldier taken captive from the Nahal Oz military base, says there’s no sunlight and that winter conditions are tough in Gaza.

Likely speaking under duress, he appealed to Donald Trump, saying the U.S. president is the only one who can return all the hostages because of his influence over Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Angrest’s family said it was “shaken by the video” and added that his appearance in the footage makes them fear that he has been tortured.

Last Ramadan, the war was raging, but this time, a fragile ceasefire is in place since mid-January — though its future is uncertain.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset as a sign of humility, submission to God and sympathy for the poor and hungry.

At Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the faithful formed rows to listen to the Friday sermon and kneel in prayer at the foot of the golden Dome of the Rock.

The compound is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount,

The Islamic Trust, which oversees the compound, said 90,000 attended the prayers. The Israeli police said it deployed thousands of additional officers around the area.

The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire brought the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by terrorists in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

But an intended second phase of the deal — meant to bring the release of remaining hostages and a lasting truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — has been thrown into doubt.

Israel has balked at entering negotiations over the terms of the second phase. Instead, it has called for Hamas to release half of its remaining hostages in return for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.

It says a bar on aid to Gaza will continue and could be escalated until Hamas accepts the proposal. Hamas has demanded implementation of the original ceasefire deal.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the implementation of the deal and to push for the second phase, Egypt’s State Information Service said.