Nearly 600 illegal Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem during the Jewish New Year, according to the Jerusalem Governorate. The governorate reported that 593 illegal settlers accessed the holy site via the Moroccan Gate (Bab al-Maghariba) during morning and afternoon sessions, operating under the direct protection of Israeli security forces.
Simultaneously, Israeli authorities implemented strict access restrictions for Palestinian worshippers. During dawn prayers on Sunday, officials funneled entry exclusively through the Hutta and Chain gates. Furthermore, checkpoint soldiers imposed arbitrary age limits and refused to clarify which categories of people were permitted to enter. These measures prevented hundreds of Palestinians from reaching the mosque, forcing many to hold their prayers at the outer gates.
These incursions follow organized calls from Israeli extremist Temple groups to conduct mass visits and perform religious rituals within the compound throughout the holiday season. The Jerusalem Governorate warned that these settlers aim to impose rituals by force to establish a "new reality" and alter the historical and Islamic status of the site. The governorate also noted that approximately 850 barring orders have been issued against Palestinians since the start of the year. Since 2003, Israeli police have unilaterally facilitated these daily illegal incursions, despite consistent protests from the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf, which maintains exclusive administrative custodianship of the holy site.
The situation at the mosque occurs amid a broader acceleration of illegal settlement activity. The Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission reported on Sunday that Israeli authorities have advanced 153 plans for illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the beginning of 2026. These plans target the construction of over 18,000 housing units, with 100 plans involving 12,300 units in the West Bank and 53 plans for 5,783 units in occupied East Jerusalem. Since late 2022, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved 104 new illegal settlements, further compounding the displacement of Palestinians across territory occupied since 1967.
