In a powerful display of faith and defiance, nearly 80,000 Palestinians converged on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday for Eid al-Adha prayers – despite a suffocating Israeli security cordon and the grief-stricken air brought on by the devastating war in Gaza.
Worshippers streamed into Islam’s third-holiest site at dawn, their voices rising with the sacred Takbirat, echoing off the ancient stones of the Old City.
But beyond the spiritual chants lay a different kind of silence – one heavy with loss, fear, and absence.
Israeli police blanketed the compound and its surroundings with armed units, checkpoints, and surveillance.
While tens of thousands made it through, many Palestinians from the occupied West Bank were barred entry under sweeping movement restrictions.
