OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – More than 5,411 Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque over the past week under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, according to Jerusalem sources, marking one of the largest waves of settler incursions in recent months amid escalating Israeli measures targeting the holy site.
The sources said the majority of the incursions took place on Thursday during the so-called “Tisha B’Av” observance, when large groups of settlers entered the mosque compound in organized groups escorted by heavily armed Israeli police.
During the incursions, settlers performed Talmudic rituals, carried out provocative tours, and raised Israeli flags in the eastern section of the mosque compound, actions Palestinians view as part of ongoing efforts to impose Israeli sovereignty over Al-Aqsa and alter its historic and legal status.
Israeli occupation restricts Palestinian worshippers
At the same time, Israeli occupation forces imposed strict restrictions on Palestinian worshippers attempting to access Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Witnesses reported intensified identity checks, tightened entry procedures, and the denial of access to numerous Palestinians seeking to pray at the mosque, while settlers were granted facilitated entry under military protection.
Palestinian officials and Jerusalem activists say these measures are intended to reduce the Palestinian presence at Al-Aqsa while enabling increasingly frequent settler incursions.
Escalating campaign against Al-Aqsa
The latest incursions come amid a sustained escalation targeting the mosque, where Israeli settlers storm the compound almost daily—except Fridays and Saturdays—under the protection of Israeli occupation police.
Palestinians warn that these incursions form part of a broader Israeli policy aimed at imposing a new reality at Al-Aqsa through its temporal and spatial division, similar to the arrangement imposed at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron after the 1994 massacre.
The growing number of incursions, accompanied by public Talmudic prayers and nationalist displays inside the compound, has fueled concerns that Israel is accelerating efforts to Judaize the site and undermine the longstanding historical and legal status of the mosque.
Background
Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in the occupied Old City of Jerusalem, is Islam’s third holiest site and forms part of the Al-Haram Al-Sharif compound, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
Under the long-standing historical status quo, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf administers the mosque, while non-Muslims are permitted to visit during designated hours but are prohibited from performing religious rituals inside the compound.
In recent years, however, Israeli authorities have increasingly facilitated settler incursions, while extremist Israeli groups have openly campaigned for Jewish prayer rights at the site and called for the construction of a Jewish temple in place of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The number of settler incursions has risen sharply since the formation of Israel’s current far-right government, whose ministers have repeatedly advocated expanding Jewish presence at the compound and changing the existing arrangements governing the holy site.
Palestinians regard these policies as part of a wider campaign to consolidate Israeli control over occupied East Jerusalem, alter the city’s demographic and religious character, and erode Palestinian sovereignty over one of Islam’s most revered sanctuaries.
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