Hundreds of Christians joined the Good Friday procession in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday, marking one of Christianity's most sacred days, but the war in the Gaza Strip meant the crowds were notably smaller than in previous years.
Palestinian authorities say more than 30,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive, which was launched after Hamas fighters’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, in which they killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.
Since then, many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have been unable to enter Jerusalem without special permission to cross Israeli checkpoints. According to U.S. State Department data in 2022, there were 1,300 Christians in Gaza and 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Israel Defense Forces say the checkpoints are in place to keep Israelis safe from terrorism.
In addition to Palestinian Christians, the restrictions have also prevented Palestinian Muslims from visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, as Good Friday coincides with the third Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Men under 65 and women under 50 have been barred from visiting the mosque, Al Jazeera reported.
During Friday’s procession, composed mainly of Palestinian Christians but also of foreigners in the Franciscan religious order, worshippers walked the Way of the Cross, the route believed to have been walked by Jesus to his crucifixion.
Israeli police set up barricades along the path and rerouted shoppers in the Old City's Muslim quarter to make way for the procession.
There were 14 stations for Christians to visit during the procession, each of which marks an event that Jesus experienced while walking to his crucifixion. The final stations were at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and buried.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
