Palestinians barred from Al-Aqsa or Al-Quds

The Israeli occupation''s police imposed restrictions Tuesday on the entry of the Palestinians under 40 years of age, including women, into the Old City of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinian news agency Ma''an reported today that eye witnesses said the occupation said the Israeli police set up barricades at the Old City gates, checking identity papers of people trying to enter the walled city and prevented the younger ones from entering. Police stationed at the gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, also prevented Muslim worshippers planning to perform prayers in the Mosque from entering it. The occupation measures came following calls by the Palestinians to gather in the Mosque area to foil plots hatched up by the Jewish extremists intending to visit the compound of al-Aqsa Mosque to perform their own religious rituals. Similar attempts on Sunday by a number of Israelis provoked clashes between the Israeli police and Muslim worshippers inside the Mosque compound. Jews say thato al-Haram al-Sharif, which houses al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is the site of the Jewish temple destroyed 2000 years ago and want the Muslim mosques destroyed to rebuild their temple over their ruins.