20,000 Palestinians perform Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa

By Said Ammoury

JERUSALEM (AA) - Some 20,000 Palestinian Muslims prayed at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday despite inclement weather that caused several road accidents in the Palestinian territories, according to Firas al-Dibs, a spokesman for Jerusalem’s Religious Endowments (Awqaf) Authority.

On Wednesday, Israeli police allowed Jewish settlers to perform “Talmudic rituals” -- in an "unprecedented" manner -- inside the Al-Aqsa compound, authority officials said.

Authority officials also accused the Israeli authorities of prohibiting the planned renovation of the iconic mosque and surrounding buildings.

Authority officials further accuse Israel of stepping up an ongoing campaign against both the Al-Aqsa and the Jordan-run endowments authority, which is responsible for the mosque’s upkeep.