(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, SEPTEMBER 16 - The Waqf, the Palestinian Authority for the custody of the Holy Places, has banned the entry of faithful and visitors into the al-Aqsa Mosque and the adjacent Esplanade for three weeks, starting Friday after the functions.
The goal, he explained, is to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Hatem Abdel Kader, a manager of the Waqf, told the Maan news agency that during this period in the perimeter of the al-Aqsa mosque, the guardians, employees and non-religious assigned to spread the prayers from the speakers will be able to enter.
The al-Aqsa mosque had already been closed to the public in March, in the first wave of coronavirus.
The second wave has meanwhile manifested itself with vehemence in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem and - to a lesser extent - also in Gaza.
Two months ago the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that among the Palestinians the infected were then 9,000 and the deaths 55.
Yesterday the number of Palestinians infected since the beginning of the pandemic was 42,379 and 276 deaths. In Jerusalem, there are about 2,000 active patients.
(ANSAmed).