A group of Israeli settlers raid the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and attack two guards
A group of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem on Friday (22 May) local time. In their action, the settlers also attacked two security guards at the holy complex.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Authority, in a statement carried by Anadolu Agency on Saturday (23 May 2026), said nine Israeli settlers forced entry into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after assaulting the local security guards.
“Nine settlers raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after attacking its two guards, and they were carrying an offering of bread,” the Palestinian Jerusalem Authority said in the statement, referring to the bread offerings for the Jewish festival of Shavuot.
“They forcibly entered the mosque complex and managed to reach the Dome of the Rock courtyard,” the statement added.
The Dome of the Rock, also known as the Rock Mosque or Qubbat al-Sakhrah, is a historic gilded-domed building of great significance in Islam.
The dome located at the centre of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex is built atop the Foundation Stone (Sakhrah), believed to be the place where Prophet Muhammad began the Isra and Mi’raj journey to heaven.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque itself is the third-holiest site in the Muslim world. For Jews, the sacred complex is known as the Temple Mount or the Holy Mount, alleged to be the site of two ancient Jewish temples.
Under the long-standing status quo, Jews are allowed to visit, but are forbidden from performing religious rituals or prayer inside the holy complex.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Authority described the raid and assault by Israeli settlers as a “dangerous precedent and the first such incident since the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967”.
Furthermore, the Palestinian Jerusalem Authority said the raid coincided with “wide incitement by Temple Mount extremist groups” during the Jewish festival of Shavuot and forms part of ongoing efforts to impose a new reality within the holy complex.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, in a separate statement, said the Israeli settlers raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex via the Al-Ghawanimah Gate after assaulting two of the mosque’s guards. According to the Islamic Waqf Department, the settlers reached the Dome of the Rock courtyard carrying a “plant offerings”.
The Islamic Waqf Department described the incident as a “dangerous escalation and an attempt to impose religious rituals within the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex”.
The latest incident occurred as more than 70,000 Palestinian worshippers were praying Friday at Al-Aqsa despite restrictions from Israel.
Since 2003, Israeli police have allowed Jews to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex every day, except on Fridays and Saturdays.
Palestinians view Jewish raids of the holy site as highly provocative. They say such actions violate the sanctity of the site and aim to alter the religious status quo of the complex.
Palestinians also complain that Israel has for decades intensified efforts to Judaise East Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity.
Palestine regards East Jerusalem as the capital of its future state, based on international resolutions that do not recognise Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.