Muslims pray at sacred Jerusalem site on first Friday of Ramadan

Palestinian worshipers pray during the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan at the al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s old city (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

Tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers gathered at a sacred Jerusalem plaza for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan after coronavirus lockdowns kept the site off-limits last year.

About 70,000 faithful, most of them Arab citizens of Israel, prayed at al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, said an official from the Islamic Waqf authority overseeing the Islamic section of the compound.