Israel Lifts Restrictions At Jerusalem Holy Sites, Ben Gurion Airport Fully Reopened, Normalcy Returns
Israeli cities have suffered heavy bombardment under Iranian and Hezbollah missiles over the past many weeks going back to the start of Trump's Operation Epic Fury on February 28, but the start of the fragile Iran ceasefire has seen the bombs halted, at least for now.
A sense of normalcy is finally returning across Israeli society, after millions of citizens have on a daily basis had to scramble to get to bomb shelters. Emergency restrictions have been lifted across most parts of the country, and even holy sites in Jerusalem are being opened back up, after Israeli authorities starting last month severely restricted access.
Jerusalem police on Thursday announced the removal of all restrictions and deployed hundreds of officers and volunteers across the city.
Access to Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holy sites was either fully prohibited or limited to small groups, amid the prior daily barrage of Iranian missile and drone attacks.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been reopened too. It had remained closed for much of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which was somewhat unprecedented in recent history. This created immense tensions between Palestinian Muslims and Israeli security forces.
Roman Catholics and Western Christians were severely limited during last weekend's Easter observances at the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City.
However, the Iran ceasefire and reopening coincides with upcoming Orthodox Christian Easter (Pascha) celebrations on Sunday.
Typically tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims from Russia, Greece, Eastern Europe and elsewhere descend on Jerusalem ahead of Orthodox Holy week, however, travel difficulties and the threat of renewed war have had a chilling effect, and much fewer are expected to attend.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III led a group of clergy members to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for prayers on Palm Sunday, following restrictions on gatherings in large groups in Jerusalem's Old City pic.twitter.com/vTDupzFQEb
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 5, 2026
Israeli police may still move to limit gatherings, and typically they set up barricades in various parts of the Old City in and around the Christian quarter in the name of imposing greater security.
Still, there's a sense of optimism, but Israeli raids in Lebanon have kept things unpredictable. Iran has been warning against ongoing Israeli strikes on Beirut and elsewhere, and so the war could be renewed at any moment.