Israeli authorities enforced severe restrictions on Friday, February 20, 2026, limiting the number of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank who could enter occupied East Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
Hundreds of Palestinians began gathering before dawn at major military checkpoints surrounding Jerusalem—including Qalandiya, Hizma, Bethlehem, Beitunia, and others—in the hope of reaching the Noble Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif) for the congregational noon prayer. Despite some carrying previously issued entry permits, large numbers were turned back, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent reporting live from the Qalandiya checkpoint and other crossing points.
The Israeli army and police deployed thousands of troops, including riot police, border guard units, and mounted police, at key access routes into the city. Senior military officers were visibly present to oversee operations, while checkpoints featured multiple layers of screening, metal detectors, and identity checks. A heavy security presence was also maintained throughout East Jerusalem’s Old City and around the Al-Aqsa compound itself.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate issued a statement confirming that “thousands of West Bank residents are crowded at the Qalandiya checkpoint, and the occupation authorities are refusing to allow them to enter on the grounds that the permitted number for Friday, set at 10,000 people, has been reached.” Many worshippers reportedly waited for hours only to be denied entry at the final gates of the Old City.
Israeli security officials had publicly announced in advance that only 10,000 West Bank Palestinians would be permitted to enter Jerusalem on Fridays during Ramadan. The quota was restricted primarily to men over the age of 55, women of all ages, and children under 12, all subject to strict security clearance and prior approval through the Israeli authorities’ permit system. This represents a substantial reduction compared with pre-2023 Ramadan arrangements, when tens of thousands of West Bank Palestinians were routinely allowed to access Al-Aqsa for Friday prayers.
The tightened measures coincide with an elevated security alert declared across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of Ramadan on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. In the weeks leading up to the holy month, Israeli forces conducted widespread arrest campaigns in East Jerusalem, detaining dozens of residents on charges of “incitement” or “security threats.” Palestinian rights organizations reported that several individuals were placed under administrative house arrest or issued expulsion orders from the city as preemptive measures to reduce the potential for unrest during Ramadan prayers.
Palestinians regard East Jerusalem—and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in particular—as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state. Under international law, including multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions (notably UNSC Resolution 478 of 1980), Israel’s 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem and its subsequent annexation are not recognized. The status of Jerusalem remains one of the most sensitive and unresolved final-status issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since the war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, Israeli military operations and settler violence in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem) have escalated dramatically. According to data compiled by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and Palestinian human rights organizations, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023. Thousands more have been injured, arrested, or displaced, while settlement expansion and home demolitions have continued at an accelerated pace.
The restrictions on Friday prayer access drew immediate and sharp condemnation from Palestinian officials, religious authorities, and international observers. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the measures as “collective punishment” and a “flagrant violation of freedom of worship and the right to access holy sites.” Jordan, which holds custodianship over Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem under the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty, has repeatedly protested similar limitations during previous Ramadan periods and reiterated its position following Friday’s events.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), several Arab governments, and international human rights groups issued statements urging Israel to lift the restrictions and guarantee unimpeded access for worshippers, warning that such policies risk inflaming tensions during the sacred month.
Israeli authorities defended the measures as necessary for public security, citing intelligence assessments of potential unrest and the need to maintain order at the sensitive holy site. The Israeli police and military stated that additional forces had been deployed across Jerusalem and the West Bank specifically to ensure calm during Ramadan.
Friday’s events passed without major reported incidents of violence at the checkpoints or inside the Old City, though tensions remained elevated among worshippers denied entry. Those who were permitted through joined thousands of East Jerusalem residents and a limited number of Palestinian citizens of Israel for noon prayers at Al-Aqsa.
As Ramadan continues, the situation at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the surrounding checkpoints is expected to remain a key flashpoint, with potential implications for broader Israeli-Palestinian dynamics amid the ongoing war in Gaza and persistent high levels of tension in the occupied West Bank.
