Israel cancels weekly visit from Gaza to Al-Aqsa
March 16, 2016 10:56 P.M. (Updated : March 18, 2016 10:41 A.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=770732
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Israeli authorities on Wednesday cancelled a weekly visit allowing elderly Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to travel to occupied East Jerusalem for Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Palestinian liaison officials.
Sources at the Palestinian liaison office said that Israel had called off the agreement, which previously allowed 200 Gazans above the age of 60 to worship at the holy site as part of a ceasefire agreement that ended the 2014 Gaza war.
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850 Gaza Christians receive permits to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem
March 19, 2016 7:50 P.M. (Updated : March 19, 2016 9:24 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=770761
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Christian Palestinians from the Gaza Strip will travel to celebrate Easter in Bethlehem and occupied East Jerusalem after the Israeli authorities agreed to grant them permits, a Palestinian Authority official said Saturday.
Muhammad al-Maqadma, a public information officer for the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs, told Ma’an that Israel had granted around 850 permits to Gaza Christians of different ages to travel to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Al-Maqadma said the permits were the result of “dedicated efforts” by Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh in order to enable hundreds of Christians to celebrate the holidays within a span of 45 days.
This is the first time such a large number of Christians from Gaza received permits to travel to the West Bank and Jerusalem, al-Maqadma added.