Thousands of Israeli Settlers Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

The Jerusalem Governorate stated that more than 2,300 Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on Thursday. The condemned action coincided with the commemoration of the so-called ‘destruction of the Temple’. Among those who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound were hard-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Likud Party Knesset member Amit Halevi. During the incursion, Halevi performed Talmudic rituals inside the compound and raised an Israeli flag. The governorate described the act as a provocative move that violates the historical and legal status quo governing the mosque. In a statement, the governorate added that Israeli police allowed the number of members in each group to increase to approximately 150 settlers during the incursion. The governorate further stated that Israeli forces continued to impose strict measures at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and around the Old City, deploying in large numbers throughout the mosque’s courtyards, thereby preventing worshippers from entering. According to the governorate, only a handful of worshippers managed to reach the mosque to perform dawn prayers before Israeli forces assaulted several of them. This morning, dozens of settlers repeatedly performed what is known as ‘epic prostration’ in front of the Dome of the Rock on the western side of the compound during the incursion marking the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. On Thursday, the Palestinian Presidency strongly condemned the settlers’ storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and their performance of Talmudic rituals inside it. The action was deemed a clear violation of the historical and legal status quo. The Presidency asserted that the events at Al-Aqsa Mosque represent a dangerous escalation within a systematic policy aimed at creating a new reality on the ground and seeking to divide the compound, both temporally and spatially. It reaffirmed that Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 144 dunams, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Israeli occupation authorities have no sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem or its holy sites. The Presidency called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and take a firm stance urging Israel to cease all forms of violations and unilateral measures in Jerusalem and other occupied Palestinian territories. Jordan condemned the incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by Ben-Gvir, several other Israeli officials, and more than 2,000 settlers. Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Fouad Majali warned that such actions violate the historical and legal status quo of the site. Amman urged the international community to pressure Israel to halt what it termed ongoing violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. Similar condemnation came from the Palestinian group Hamas, which warned that ‘this blatant act of aggression will backfire on the occupation and its settlers’. ‘Our people and our resistance movements will not stand idly by in the face of the desecration of our holy sites,’ the group’s statement read.