On Monday morning, hundreds of extremist Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque – Al-Haram Al-Sharif – under heavy protection from Israeli occupation police, marking the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem. The incursion included members of the Israeli Knesset and extremist rabbis.
اضافة اعلان
According to a statement by the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, more than 900 settlers, along with several Knesset members and radical rabbis, entered the mosque compound through the Moroccan Gate. They performed provocative Talmudic rituals, with one female settler seen raising the Israeli flag and dancing in the eastern part of the compound.
The Israeli occupation police reinforced their presence by erecting metal barricades around Bab al-Amoud (Damascus Gate) and the Old City, restricting Palestinian access and movement through intensified military procedures.
The Waqf further reported that some settlers attempted to smuggle Torah scrolls into the compound—an act viewed as a serious provocation.
Large groups of settlers also gathered in the Buraq Plaza (Western Wall) and near Bab al-Qattanin, where they engaged in ritual dances and Talmudic prayers, heightening tensions.
Far-right Knesset member Moshe Feiglin is reportedly preparing to storm the mosque later today. He recently awarded a medal to a retired Israeli soldier involved in the 1967 occupation of Jerusalem.
The frequency and scale of such incursions have intensified in recent days, fueled by calls from extremist colonial groups urging mass entry into the sacred site.
Additionally, preparations are underway for the controversial "Flag March" – an annual nationalist parade scheduled to proceed from the Buraq Plaza, through Bab al-Amoud, and into Al-Wad Street inside the Old City — all heavily populated Palestinian areas. Israeli forces had already begun installing metal barriers around Bab al-Amoud on Sunday in anticipation of unrest.
The provocative incursions and military-enforced restrictions are part of a growing pattern of settler aggression in occupied East Jerusalem, drawing widespread Palestinian and international condemnation.
