Holy sites reopen in Jerusalem’s Old City after over a month of closure |
Thousands of Muslim worshipers streamed through the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount before dawn Thursday, the first time public prayer has been held at the site for over a month due to the war with Iran.
The prayer took place in the wake of the police decision to reopen all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City for public gatherings in light of the two-week ceasefire declared Tuesday.
Police announced the move soon after the Home Front Command loosened its wartime safety guidelines, allowing for public gatherings in Jerusalem to take place without limitations.
Hundreds of officers were deployed to the Old City, as law enforcement predicted a large influx of people in the area. Indeed, a large, cheering crowd was seen flowing through one of the large gates to the Al-Aqsa complex, after employees opened the doors.
Some worshipers were seen distributing dates and coffee in the mosque, celebrating the site’s reopening.
Scuffles broke out between some individuals and police, leading to the brief arrest of one Arab Israeli woman, according to the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, an Arab news site based in Jerusalem.
Later in the morning, Jewish visitors also went up to the Temple Mount and were seen prostrating themselves near the eastern wall of the flashpoint site. Another group was filmed singing directly opposite the Dome of the Rock.
دخول المقدسيين للمسجد الأقصى بعد فتح أبوابه التي أغلقها الاحتلال 40 يوما متواصلا.لكن ذلك لا يعني أن عدوان الاحتلال قد انتهى، إذ ليس من حق الاحتلال أساسا أن يغلق المسجد لأي سبب كان، وتذرعه بالأوضاع الأمنية وصفة شيطانية يستغلها لفرض هيمنته الكاملة على المسجد المبارك، ثم تكريس… pic.twitter.com/YwOPtmsrwy Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x280_Middle_1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x280_Middle_1', baseDivId: '336x280_Middle_1', } ]); }); } — يونس أبو جراد (@YunusAbujarad) April 8, 2026
دخول المقدسيين للمسجد الأقصى بعد فتح أبوابه التي أغلقها الاحتلال 40 يوما متواصلا.لكن ذلك لا يعني أن عدوان الاحتلال قد انتهى، إذ ليس من حق الاحتلال أساسا أن يغلق المسجد لأي سبب كان، وتذرعه بالأوضاع الأمنية وصفة شيطانية يستغلها لفرض هيمنته الكاملة على المسجد المبارك، ثم تكريس… pic.twitter.com/YwOPtmsrwy
— يونس أبو جراد (@YunusAbujarad) April 8, 2026
This was despite the ostensible ban on non-Muslim prayer at the site as part of the informal “status quo” agreement between Israel and Jordan, which manages the complex. The ban has fallen away in recent years, with police regularly allowing public Jewish prayer to take place in areas further from the Dome of the Rock.
With the Temple Mount’s reopening, Jewish visitors were able to ascend in the morning from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m., and in the afternoon from 1:30 to 3 p.m. — slightly longer visitation times than what was customary before the start of this year’s Ramadan.
In February, amid pressure from activists, police lengthened Jewish visitation times in the mornings by an hour as “compensation” for the site’s closure in the afternoon during the Muslim holy month: 6:30 to 11:30 a.m. instead of 7 to 11 a.m. The move had ruffled feathers among many Muslims and sparked condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, which claimed it would morph into police’s permanent policy even after Ramadan ended.
On Thursday, this appeared to be the case, with the extra hour remaining in place despite the restoration of afternoon visits for Jewish groups.
וכעת – הר הבית נפתח שוב ליהודים אחרי 40 יום בהם היה סגור בעקבות המלחמה@GLZRadio https://t.co/4XWtnGXffg pic.twitter.com/95y8nNsWcC — נועם נקש || Noam Nakash (@nakash_noam) April 9, 2026
וכעת – הר הבית נפתח שוב ליהודים אחרי 40 יום בהם היה סגור בעקבות המלחמה@GLZRadio https://t.co/4XWtnGXffg pic.twitter.com/95y8nNsWcC
— נועם נקש || Noam Nakash (@nakash_noam) April 9, 2026
According to Beyadenu, an organization dedicated to cementing a Jewish presence atop the Temple Mount, a man was detained by police on suspicion of attempting to recite the Kaddish prayer there.
As crowds returned en masse to the Old City, police began preparing for the Holy Fire ceremony slated for Saturday — an annual event observed by Orthodox Christians a day before Easter, which often attracts massive crowds to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Worship during wartime
During hostilities with Iran, the Old City served as a focal point of controversy for Jews, Muslims and Christians, raising questions about the freedom to worship during times of war.
Earlier this week, before the ceasefire was called, Jewish religious leaders filed a petition in the High Court of Justice demanding that restrictions be eased on public gatherings at the Western Wall and Temple Mount.
Judges subsequently boosted the number of people permitted at the sites from 50 to 100.
In March, police sparked an international outcry after barring the Latin Patriarch from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday. Police later reached an agreement with the Latin Patriarchate allowing for limited Christian prayer at the site.
During the latter half of Ramadan, law enforcement shut Al-Aqsa Mosque due to the war, leading Muslims to pray en masse outside the Old City walls on Friday mornings. Police violently dispersed several of these gatherings, citing Home Front Command regulations.
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;
Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and
Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
1 Op-edUS and Israel set out ambitious, vital war goals; as of the ceasefire, none have been achieved
2 IDF launches largest airstrikes yet on Hezbollah; Trump: Iran truce doesn’t cover Lebanon
3 Report: Hungary offered Iran intel on Hezbollah pager attack by Israel
4 Ben Gurion Airport fully reopening as Israel lifts flight restrictions after ceasefire
5 AnalysisNetanyahu left with vague promises after another war ends without a decisive win
6 TranscriptYair Lapid: ‘Netanyahu led us into a strategic debacle,’ sold lies to the Americans
7 Trump claims Iran won’t enrich uranium, will give up uranium, while US lifts sanctions
8 Despite ceasefire, Iran claims refinery hit, launches wave of attacks against UAE, Kuwait
Church of the Holy Sepulchre