More than 3,200 illegal Israeli settlers have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem as they marked the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av, commemorating what they call the “destruction of the Temple.”
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem said in a statement on Thursday that 3,228 settlers entered the compound during the morning period.
More illegal settlers are expected to enter the mosque after noon prayers.
Videos circulated by Israeli right-wing activists showed settlers performing collective prayers opposite the Dome of the Rock. Another clip showed the Israeli flag being raised inside the compound as participants sang the Israeli national anthem in the presence of Israeli police.
Earlier, the Jerusalem Governorate said in a Facebook post that Israeli police allowed the number of settlers entering the compound in each group to increase to around 150.
Israeli forces imposed tight restrictions at the mosque’s gates and around occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, deploying heavily across its courtyards and preventing Palestinian worshippers from entering, it added.
Only a very limited number of Palestinians managed to reach the mosque for dawn prayers before Israeli forces assaulted several worshippers and other residents, the statement said.
The governorate said illegal settlers “performed Talmudic rituals during the incursions, including wearing tefillin, carrying out full prostrations in the eastern section of the compound and chanting loudly.”
It added that “extremist groups advocating the construction of a Jewish temple at the site were mobilising supporters in an effort to bring 5,000 occupiers into the compound” during Thursday’s incursions.
Ben-Gvir storms compound
The Jerusalem Governorate condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming of the compound as a “dangerous escalation” and a “flagrant violation” of its historical and legal status quo.
It said the move was part of “systematic targeting of Islamic holy sites” and attempts to impose new realities at the mosque.
The governorate said Ben-Gvir’s participation, alongside incursions by illegal settlers and groups advocating the construction of a “Jewish temple” at the site, marked a “dangerous shift” from attacks by extremist groups to the Israeli government’s official adoption of such actions.
It warned that the violations could have repercussions for regional security and stability, and urged the international community and international institutions to act to halt them.
The governorate stressed that the entire 144-dunam (35.6-acre) Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is “an exclusively Islamic place of worship,” saying any measures aimed at changing its identity or historical and legal status are “invalid and illegitimate.”
Likud party lawmaker Amit Halevi also stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday morning.
‘Dangerous provocation’
Israeli left-wing group Peace Now described the events in a post on the US social media company X as a “dangerous provocation” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
It said collective Jewish prayers at the site, “where prayer is prohibited” under the long-standing status quo, constituted a “blatant violation of the fragile status quo.”
Peace Now accused Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Settlements Minister Orit Strock of providing those groups with “support, funding and protection.”
The Palestinian presidency said the incursion and the performance of Talmudic rituals inside the mosque compound represented a “dangerous escalation” aimed at imposing new realities at the site and dividing it temporally and spatially.
It stressed that the entire 144-dunum Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, adding that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem or its holy sites.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the incursion, describing it as a “blatant violation” of the historical and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque and an unacceptable provocation, according to a statement.
Egypt likewise condemned the storming, calling it a clear violation of the mosque’s historical and legal status quo, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
The ministry warned that continued Israeli violations threaten to fuel tensions and undermine efforts to restore calm, urging the international community and the UN Security Council to take action to halt attacks on holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognised by the international community.
