JERUSALEM: Just before 5am at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound, a Muslim worshipper prayed in tears. Hours later, Christians and Jews also showed deep emotion as the city’s holy sites reopened following a truce with Iran.
Jerusalem’s Old City, home to key sites for all three Abrahamic religions, had been closed for 41 days since the war began on February 28. For the first time in weeks, Muslim worshippers returned to Al Aqsa Mosque, Jews to the Western Wall, and Christians to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. At Al Aqsa, thousands gathered for dawn prayers under heavy police presence.
Many were overwhelmed with emotion, with one man handing out tissues near the Al-Qibli prayer hall. Suzan Allam, visiting with her family, described the moment as “a party,” while another worshipper called it an “indescribable joy,” saying, “Al Aqsa mosque is Jerusalem’s soul.”
