Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem pass without the violence feared amid the Gaza war

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Palestinian women wait to cross the Israeli military Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah to Jerusalem, to participate in Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

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Palestinians gather for Friday prayers outside the Dome of Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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Palestinians perform the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan near the ruins of a destroyed mosque by the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

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Palestinians cross from the West Bank city of Bethlehem to Jerusalem to participate in Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan just outside Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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Israeli security forces stand guard while Muslim worshippers make their way to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Palestinians go through a security check by Israeli soldiers as they cross from the West Bank city of Bethlehem to Jerusalem to participate in Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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People buy bread after praying in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Muslim worshippers perform Friday prayers outside the Lion’s Gate entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Palestinians cross from the Israeli military Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah to Jerusalem, to participate in Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

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Muslim worshippers perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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Muslim worshippers leave the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after Friday prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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Muslim worshippers gather for Friday prayers by the Dome of Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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Muslim worshippers perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

By JACK JEFFERY

JERUSALEM (AP) — The first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan passed without violence at the revered Al-Aqsa mosque under tight Israeli restrictions, amid fears the ongoing war Israel-Hamas war would spark clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Hamas militants have called on Palestinians to rise up and challenge tight Israeli restrictions on entry to the site. The militant group hopes a fresh outburst of violence would put more pressure on Israel and improve its leverage in ongoing cease-fire talks.

But no flare-up occurred after the important noon prayers on Friday. An estimated 80, 000 worshippers attended the prayers, the highest turnout since Ramadan began on Monday, according to the Waqf, the Jordanian-based Muslim religious body that administers the site.

Nearly all the worshipers moved peacefully through the Old City’s winding streets and crossed the compound’s gates guarded by armed Israeli police.

During past years, clashes at the compound during Ramadan have triggered major escalations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Israeli raids of the mosque and Hamas rocket fire, which set off a brief Israel-Hamas war in 2021.

FILE- U.S. United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, center, addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the war in Gaza, on March 11, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a United States-sponsored resolution declaring that "an immediate and sustained cease-fire" in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is "imperative" to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than 2 million hungry Palestinians. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

The UN will vote on a US resolution declaring that an immediate cease-fire in Gaza is imperative

Israeli soldiers move on the top of a tank near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

US calls for vote Friday on UN resolution declaring that immediate Gaza cease-fire is `imperative’

Blinken says an Israeli assault on Gaza’s Rafah would be a mistake and isn’t needed to defeat Hamas

Friday also marked the first time Palestinians from the occupied West Bank were able to travel to Jerusalem since Hamas launched its assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1, 200 people and taking around 250 others hostage. Israel’s invasion of Gaza in response has killed more than 31,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

But West Bank Palestinians’ access to the city was limited to men over 55, women over 50 and children under 10, with all visitors required to return to the territory the same day. Israel also demanded all visitors obtain a special permit through a mobile application. In previous years, there were no age restrictions on women and elderly worshippers did not need to apply for an online permit.

At Qalandiya Checkpoint, which sits between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah, The Associated Press spoke to at least three elderly men who said they were turned back for not having a permit. Imad Jalalmah from the city of Jenin, said he was completely unaware that this new restriction affected him.

“How could this happen?” he lamented from outside the checkpoint “I traveled approximately 150 kilometers (95 miles) from Jenin to here, and when I finally arrived, I was denied passage.”

At the checkpoint separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem, worshippers said there were similar problems.

“Many old people over the age of sixty or seventy don’t have modern telephones,” said 57-year-old Khaled Thweib.