THE Israelis blocked Palestinians from attending Ramadan prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque today.

Israel says it will only allow 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to enter the mosque in East Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.

Hundreds were left queuing at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah in the hope that they would be allowed into one of Islam’s holiest sites.

The Israelis reportedly insisted that only children under the age of 12, men over 55 and women over 50 would be allowed to enter.

The new restrictions come amid a surge in violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem by illegal Israeli settlers.

Earlier in the week, settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a Palestinian-American teenager during an attack on a village east of Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry and a witness said on Thursday.

Abu Ali said that the army shot tear gas, sound grenades and live ammunition. Israel’s military acknowledged using what it called “riot dispersal methods” after receiving reports of Palestinians throwing rocks, but denied that its forces fired during the clashes.

“When the settlers saw the army, they were encouraged and started shooting live bullets,” Mr Ali said. 

He added that they clubbed those injured with sticks after they had fallen to the ground.

According to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since 2023, and more than 10,000 people have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

The Israeli clampdown in the West Bank came a day after United States President Donald Trump announced at the inaugural so-called Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge $7 billion (around £5bn) toward a Gaza relief package and five countries have agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilisation force for the Palestinian territory.

The promised cash represents just a small fraction of the estimated $70bn (£50bn) needed to rebuild the territory decimated after two years of war on the Palestinians by Israel. 

President Trump said: “Every dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of a new and harmonious (region).” 

The president also announced the US was pledging $10bn (around £7bn).

It was not clear where the US money would come from — a sizeable pledge that would need to be authorised by Congress.