An Iranian missile reportedly struck near Jerusalem’s revered Al-Aqsa Mosque, among other sites linked to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr, Israel claimed on Saturday, sharing a video that purportedly shows the projectile landing and exploding just a few hundred metres from the holy sites.
According to Israeli authorities, the missile landed close to the Old City. This area houses sites sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, including the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The reported strike came as the region marked Eid, with heightened tensions already in place due to the Middle East conflict. Track US-Iran war live updates
Israel’s foreign ministry directly blamed Tehran. “This is the true face of the Mullahs’ so-called ‘religious’ regime,” the ministry posted on X.
In a video shared by Israel, a missile is seen descending near the mosque before a powerful explosion sends a large plume of grey smoke into the sky. HT has not independently verified the footage.
According to Israeli officials, cited by news agency AFP, debris was scattered across a nearby road, and police quickly cordoned off the affected area in the Jewish Quarter following multiple loud blasts.
AFP journalists at the scene reported visible damage just a few hundred metres from key religious landmarks.
Eyewitnesses described a sudden impact. A resident in a nearby district told the news agency that they saw an object falling straight from the sky, followed by a loud explosion and white smoke rising.
Local resident Devorah Abramson said the blast “blew pieces of debris to the nearby field all the way, like, pretty far from where it fell.”
Israeli police said one person sustained minor injuries and was evacuated.
Eid prayers held outside
Muslim worshippers were barred from entering the Al-Aqsa compound for Eid prayers. For the first time in nearly six decades, worshippers gathered along roadsides outside the Old City to mark the end of Ramadan.
Israeli authorities have shut access to major religious sites in the Old City — including Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Western Wall, citing security concerns during the conflict.
“Al-Aqsa has been taken from us,” Wajdi Mohammed Shweiki, a Palestinian man told AFP.
The incident comes amid escalating hostilities, with Iran launching missile barrages at Israel in response to a military campaign by Israel and the United States that began on February 28.
