Israeli forces restrict Aqsa entrance for Palestinian women

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Dozens of Palestinian women were forced to perform midday prayers in the alleyways outside of the Al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli forces allow only conditional entry to female worshipers to the holy site, witnesses told Ma'an.

The renewed restrictions on female worshipers entailed that women leave their identity cards at the Israeli checkpoints that surround the mosque.

Witnesses said that many Palestinian women refused to leave their ID cards at the checkpoints as Israeli authorities frequently confiscate the ID cards, and the women knew that it could take them hours to retrieve them.

In some cases, women said that ID cards have been sent to police stations in Jerusalem and women would have had to wait several hours, or could be forced to undergo interrogations in order to get their ID cards back.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=740326