More than 300,000 attend Al-Aqsa Mosque on the "Night of Power"

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Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Jerusalem, the West Bank and inside Israel headed to Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday night to pray there during the blessed Night of Power (Lailatul Qadr), traditionally held to be on the 27th night of Ramadan.

The number of worshippers in the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa was estimated to exceed 300,000 from all parts of Palestine except the besieged Gaza Strip, the Directorate of Islamic Affairs and Endowments in Jerusalem said.

It is believed that this is the first time for many years that Al-Aqsa Mosque has witnessed so many worshippers, despite the strict Israeli occupation regulations which prevented thousands more Muslims from the West Bank from getting to the mosque.

There were clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Qalandia checkpoint, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, when the would-be worshippers heading for Al-Aqsa were stopped by soldiers. Paramedics reported a number of Palestinian casualties as a result of the tear gas used by the security forces at the checkpoint.

MEMO Photographer: Ibtehal Mansour