By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Tensions rose in Jerusalem on Wednesday after Israel’s government said it would impose restrictions on the access of Palestinians to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of East Jerusalem during the Muslim month of Ramadan amid “security needs.”
The Al-Aqsa compound, seen as the third “holiest” site in the world for Muslims, sits atop a hill in the Old City. The site is also revered by Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the planned restrictions on access to the site despite expected frictions, especially around religious holidays such as Ramadan, which will begin about March 10 this year.
Government ministers said the policy would include limiting the access of Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria to the Temple Mount during Ramadan.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign affairs department condemned the proposal.
It added that the world is “leading towards the declaration of a religious war.”
Israel cites “security concerns” as the main reason behind the move after it was attacked on October 7 by Hamas, which it views as a terrorist organization.
Some 1,200 people died, and about 250 others were kidnapped in the worst recorded atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Newly declassified FBI records released by the White House detail what officials describe as a years-long Chinese intelligence effort to penetrate American political circles through sexual relationships, campaign donations, and strategically placed interns.
President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is considering a significant overhaul of its Gaza disarmament framework after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a plan that would have linked Hamas weapons handovers to phased Israeli troop withdrawals, according to an exclusive report by The Times of Israel.
Iran’s rulers were quietly preparing for a broader and potentially prolonged Middle East war even as Tehran publicly engaged in diplomatic efforts with the United States, according to an exclusive investigation by The Wall Street Journal.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced Sunday that he had ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” military exercises with key regional ally South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to assist Washington in its confrontation with Iran.
Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia recovered six more bodies Sunday following a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake, raising the death toll to at least 53 as Christians prayed for victims and rescuers struggled to reach isolated communities.
The U.S. Department of Defense is introducing a course centered on Christianity and Western civilization this fall in the schools it operates for military families, while casting Islam as a threat to both.
New York’s Jewish community was reeling Sunday as a judge ordered a man held on bail after prosecutors said he admitted to disrupting Shabbat services at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue and assaulting two people there.