JERUSALEM (RNS) — Living in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Mohammed Mahmoud enjoys a privilege other Muslims around the world can only dream about: the ability to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque every day.
For the first two weeks of Ramadan, Mahmoud, who works in a bakery across the street from the Muslim Quarter, did just that. But worshippers’ access to Israel’s holy sites came to a sudden halt last week after the U.S. and Israel coordinated a joint attack against Iran, and Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at Israel, U.S. military assets and almost a dozen other countries.
While Home Front Command, the Israel Defense Forces’ civil protection arm, has now deemed it safe to permit workplaces, stores, restaurants and virtually all of the country’s mosques, churches and synagogues to reopen — provided that no more than 50 people congregate and there is a nearby bomb shelter — the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif, the Western Wall and its plaza and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre remain shuttered to worshippers due to the state’s fears of a mass-casualty event.
Since the war began Feb. 28, more than 1,600 people in Israel have been rushed to the hospital and at least 11 killed due to war-related injuries or trauma, according to Israel’s Ministry of Health.
On a typical weekday, a Home Front Command spokesperson said several thousand people congr …