On the first Friday of Ramadan in 2026, Israel didn't let enter large number of  Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, allowing only 10,000 permit-holding West Bank residents, a drastic reduction from the 250,000 who attended in past years. Although 80,000 were able to enter, "new age restrictions and military checkpoints have disrupted the long-established community links." This is in the midst of a "dangerous surge" in violence, where more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by either Israeli forces or settlers since 2023, and a new "de facto annexation" plan that allows Israel to take control of large portions of the West Bank as its territory.

Photo: Andrew Shiva / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0