SW News: Israeli police will restrict the number of believers entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem during the Orthodox Easter services on Saturday. Church leaders expressed their anger at the move and stated they would not cooperate.

The number of people allowed to attend Saturday's Holy Fire celebration at the Holy Sepulchre Church has been reduced by Israeli authorities from 8,200 to only 1,800.

The Holy Fire ritual is typically performed in front of big crowds. Extra security checks have been set up in the ancient city during the past few days. Church representatives are asking Christians to disregard the curbs, while Israeli police say that they are protecting public order and religious freedom. Father Mattheos Siopsis announced to the media that the event will be held by the Greek Orthodox Church and that everyone who wants to worship was welcome to attend.

Christian leaders emphasize that the ceremony has long been performed without any untoward incident. Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Custody of the Holy Land, and Armenian Patriarchate issued a joint statement in which they stated: "We shall continue to uphold the Status Quo customs, and the ceremony will be held as customary for two millennia and all who wish to worship with us are invited to attend."

The Jewish Passover holiday, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and Easter all fell during a period of heightened Israeli-Palestinian tension this year, which contributed to the unusually high level of sentiment around religious festivals in the Old City.

An attack involving a car ramming last week in Tel Aviv resulted in the death of an Italian tourist and seven additional injuries. The attack happened after a gunshot in the West left two British-Israeli girls dead and their mother injured.

Prior to it, Israeli soldiers attacked locations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip that were connected to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. On Friday, Israel's armed forces carried out strikes on sites in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip that were connected to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel accused Hamas of initiating the largest single barrage from its northern neighbour in 17 years, which resulted in the interception of 34 missiles.

The Israel Defence Forces said that during their counterattack, southern Lebanon's Hamas infrastructure was damaged. Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police have engaged in violent altercations within the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly denounced Israel's invasion on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.