'Saddest day for Muslims' as Eid prayers barred at Al Aqsa and Kashmir’s Jama Masjid

JERUSALEM: In what is being described as an unprecedented move since 1967, Al Aqsa mosque — Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site — remained closed at the end of Ramazan on Friday, as Israeli authorities kept the complex shut amid rising tensions among Palestinians.

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers were forced to offer Eid prayers at the gates of Jerusalem's Old City after Israel closed access to Al Aqsa mosque and other holy sites in the area.

Wajdi Mohammed Shweiki, a silver-haired Palestinian man in his 60s, expressed his anguish to AFP over the situation.

"Today, Al Aqsa has been taken from us. It's a sad and painful Ramazan," Shweiki said. "It's a catastrophic situation for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for Palestinians in general and for all Muslims across the globe."

The closure marks the first time since 1967 that the Al Aqsa mosque compound has been shut at the conclusion of Ramazan, leaving worshippers with no option but to hold their Eid prayers as close as they could to the sealed site.

Since Israel and the United States started the war with Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities have closed access to Jerusalem's world-renowned holy sites citing security concerns. The closures have affected not only Al Aqsa Mosque for Muslims but also the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians.

Meanwhile, the Jama Masjid in Indian-held Kashmir also remained closed on the occasion of Eid, adding to the grief felt by Muslims across the world on what many described as the saddest day for the community.

The simultaneous closure of two of the most revered sites for Muslim worshippers — Al Aqsa in Jerusalem and Jama Masjid in held Kashmir — on one of the most significant days of the Islamic calendar has drawn widespread attention and anguish among Muslims globally.

The situation at Al Aqsa, in particular, has been described as deeply painful given the mosque's central significance in Islam and its status as a focal point of Palestinian identity and religious devotion. The closure during Eid prayers, a moment of communal celebration following the holy month of Ramazan, has intensified the sense of loss among Palestinian worshippers and the broader Muslim world.

Worshippers who gathered near the gates of the Old City performed their Eid prayers in the open, in scenes that underscored the profound impact of the restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities on access to one of Islam's holiest sites.

Similarly, local authorities in Indian-occupied Kashmir barred congregational Eid prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jama Masjid on Saturday, Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, marking the latest in a series of restrictions at the grand mosque, TRT World reported.

In a post on X, Farooq said that for the seventh consecutive year, Eid prayers were not permitted at the mosque amid restrictions and house arrests.

“A day of celebration has turned into one of grief and denial for Muslims. It is an irony of our times that those who lock our mosques and Eidgahs are the first to wish us Eid Mubarak,” he said.