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.