Muslims pray on the Temple Mount
Muslims pray on the Temple MountSuleiman Qadar, Flash 90

Last week, the Ministry of Health issued strict guidelines to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Israel. One such restriction places a ban on mass events and crowd gatherings of over 5,000 people.

Despite the instructions, approximately 20,000 Muslims gathered at the al-Aqsa mosque and the adjoining square for Friday prayers after some-four thousand attended Friday morning services.

In the meantime, the Islamic Waqf, responsible for managing the affairs of the al-Aqsa Mosque, accused Israel of allowing Jews to "break into" the mosque under police supervision.

According to Palestinian Authority (PA) reports quoted in the newspaper Falastin, Israeli police allowed "Jewish extremists to break into the al-Aqsa Mosque" at 7:30 am for a duration of four hours and an additional hour and a half after the completion of the prayer service.

There is a wide consensus amongst PA Arabs whereby the al-Aqsa Mosque (Temple Mount) and Al-Buraq (Western Wall) are Islamic holy sites with no religious or historical connection to the Jewish people.