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Israel eases Palestinian entry restrictions to Al-Aqsa ahead of Ramadan

With the Muslim month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover week holiday overlapping this year, the issue of visits to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound gets more complicated than usual.
Israeli police officers stand on a rooftop near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced on Monday an easement of restrictions for Palestinians wishing to enter Jerusalem and pray at Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif during the month of Ramadan.

The step is routine from Israel, but the current decision comes also on the backdrop of two US-initiated meetings, first in Aqaba, Jordan, and then in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, for calming increasingly growing tensions in the West Bank and in Jerusalem during the holiday month.

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