FRIDAY PRAYERS at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque ended peacefully yesterday after Israel relaxed restrictions, allowing Palestinian men of all ages to enter.

Protesters had previously barricaded themselves inside the mosque in protest at rumoured Israeli plans to encroach on the site, which is run by Jordan’s waqf authority.

Clashes between the protesters and police helped spark the current uprising, which some have called a third intifada.

Earlier, Israeli troops shot a 16-year-old Palestinian who stabbed one of their number. Both the boy and the soldier were hospitalised.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem released security camera footage showing Israeli soldiers savagely beating and kicking Palestinian Ansar Aasi on the floor of the storeroom where he works in the West Bank town of el-Bireh.

He needed medical treatment after the October 6 attack and was detained for five days until the video was shown to police.