Holy sites reopen in Jerusalem

Worshippers were able to pray again at Jerusalem's holy sites on Thursday after Israel lifted restrictions it imposed on large public gatherings throughout the war with Iran nearly six weeks ago.

Jerusalem's police said on Wednesday that they would lift restrictions on all holy sites and deploy hundreds of officers and volunteers in the city.

Access had been prohibited altogether, or restricted to a few dozen faithful at a time, at Christian, Jewish and Muslim sites during the now-paused conflict, when missile attacks from Iran often sent Jerusalem residents into shelters.  The restrictions subdued Lent, Passover and Ramadan celebrations for many in some of the holiest sites for adherents of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, closed for much of the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, reopened with dawn prayer on Thursday, according to Jerusalem's Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian religious authority that administers the compound.  At the adjacent Western Wall in the Old City - the holiest site in the world where Jews can pray - dozens of men and women were seen bowing their heads in prayer.