Al Aqsa Mosque compound has been closed for Eid prayers for the first time in decades. The compound in Jerusalem will be closed to worshippers for Friday’s Eid al-Fitr, the holiday on which Muslims mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The full closure of the holy site marks the first since the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Old City.
The mosque sits on a hilltop compound that is sacred to Muslims and Jews, who believe it was the site of biblical temples. Access has been a flashpoint and historically sparked tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has kept holy sites in the Old City closed to worshippers of all faiths throughout the Iran war citing security, though the restrictions have had the broadest effect on Muslims, tens of thousands who normally come for Friday prayer at Al Aqsa.
The spokesman for paramilitary Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has been killed in an airstrike early Friday, Iranian state television reported. Before his death, Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini issued a statement insisting Tehran was still able to build missiles despite the attacks coming from Israel and the United States.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei called Friday for the enemies of his nations to have their “security” taken away, his latest message to the public. Khamenei made the remarks in a statement issued on his behalf to President Masoud Pezeshkian after Israel killed Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Khamenei hasn’t been seen since he was named as supreme leader, succeeding his father, the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war on Feb. 28. There have been growing comments from American and Israeli officials that Mojtaba Khamenei was hurt in the war.
