More than 100,000 Muslims gathered for midday prayers at a Jerusalem holy site on Friday under tight security measures as the end of the Ramadan fast nears. The final number could even have been double this, according to the authorities. This was the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month, which began about three weeks ago and is expected to end next Thursday. Officials said around 90,000 Palestinians travelled specially from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. They were among those who met Israeli entry requirements, which included women of all ages and men over 55. As a de-escalation measure, Jews were banned from visiting the site for the last 10 days of Ramadan, as was also the case in previous years.
