Temple Mount to reopen next week after two-month closure

Published: 22 May 2020

Last updated: 4 March 2024

Administrators say worshippers will return after Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr but have not said when Jews and tourists can visit; Arab councils strike over government cold shoulder

Temple Mount to reopen next week after two-month closure, Waqf announces (Times of Israel)
“The council decided to lift the suspension on worshipers entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque after the Eid al-Fitr holiday,” a statement from the Waqf organization said, referring to the Muslim holiday expected to begin this weekend. The exact date when the festival ends has yet to be determined.

The exact terms of the reopening of the site will be announced later, including whether it will also be reopened for Jews and tourists.

Arab councils in Israel on strike over pandemic, economic crisis (Al-Monitor)
Heads of Israeli-Arab local councils say they have no choice but to strike because no one in the government is listening to them.

Photo: A man walks past the Dome of the Rock, in the Temple Mount compound, in the Old City of Jerusalem on March 16 (Emmanuel DUNAND/AFP)