Men and teenage boys under the age of 45, and Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank have not been allowed for months.

Each following week during the month-long holiday would be assessed afterward, Netanyahu’s office said, overruling the far-right minister of national security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who advocated for a near blanket ban, including on Muslims with Israeli citizenship.

The compound, which Muslims refer to as Al Haram Al Sharif, is made up of the iconic Dome of The Rock, the Al-Aqsa mosque – with the smaller gray dome, museums and other institutions – and is on a site that is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who know it as the Temple Mount, where the ancient temple stood 2,000 years ago.

18-year-old Rushdiyyah, who lives in Jerusalem and spoke to NPR on the condition of not using her full name, fearing Israeli police, said she had never seen the mosque so empty, especially for pre-Ramadan Friday prayers.

The group named the Oct. 7 attack, in which 1200 people were killed and dozens taken hostage, “Al-Aqsa flood” citing threats to the mosque as the reason.

Videos of Israeli police charging into the mosque and firing tear gas and rubber bullets, as they were chasing protesters who were throwing stones, often go viral on social media.

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