The Islamic endowment overseeing the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, says the mosque itself and other buildings will be closed over concerns about the new coronavirus.
Sheikh Omar Kiswani, the director of the mosque, said Sunday that prayers will continue to be held outdoors. The closure is to continue indefinitely.
“The Islamic Waqf department decided to shut down the enclosed prayer places inside the blessed Aqsa mosque until further notice as a protective measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. All prayers will be held in the open areas of the Aqsa mosque,” the director of Al-Aqsa mosque, Omar Kiswani told Reuters.
Earlier, Palestinian government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said that three new cases of Coronavirus were recorded in the Palestinian territories, bringing the number to 38.
He said in a daily brief on the Covid19 pandemic that the three new cases were of individuals who had been in contact with already infected people in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, the epicenter of the disease in Palestine.
6429 people suspected of having the disease are currently in home quarantine, including 2676 in the Gaza Strip, he added, calling on citizens to be carefull and to stay at home.
