Incursion takes place ahead of Yom Kippur as Palestinian officials warn of escalating attempts to alter status quo at holy site in occupied East Jerusalem.
Around 100 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday under the protection of Israeli police, Palestinian authorities said, performing religious rituals in the courtyards of the sacred site.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that the settlers raided the compound’s courtyards in the morning hours and carried out Talmudic rituals while Israeli security forces secured the area throughout the incursion.
Settler Visits Increase During Yom Kippur:
The entry comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by several government ministers and thousands of Israelis, visited the Western Wall plaza adjacent to the compound under heavy security. Netanyahu also toured tunnels beneath the area and declared: “We will remain here forever.”
Palestinian officials and advocacy groups have long condemned such visits as provocative violations of the longstanding status quo at Al-Aqsa, which holds that the entire 144-dunam compound is a place of Muslim worship administered by the Jordanian-affiliated Islamic Waqf. Jews are permitted to visit but not to pray openly according to the established arrangements, though Israeli authorities have increasingly allowed settlers to perform rituals under police escort.
The latest entry coincides with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which began on Sunday evening. Settler visits to the compound typically intensify during Jewish religious holidays, often accompanied by heightened Israeli security measures that restrict Palestinian access to the site during the morning hours when the groups enter.
Tensions Rise Over Al-Aqsa Status Quo:
Palestinian officials have repeatedly warned that the growing frequency of these visits forms part of broader efforts by far-right Israeli groups and politicians to impose a new religious reality at Al-Aqsa, including potential temporal or spatial division of the compound. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has made repeated high-profile visits to the site in recent months and has publicly supported expanded Jewish access and prayer rights.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, is one of the most sensitive sites in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has frequently served as a flashpoint for wider violence. Israeli forces occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City and Al-Aqsa, in the 1967 war, an occupation that remains unrecognised by most of the international community.
Palestinian leaders and regional states have condemned the recurring settler entries as violations of international law and the historical status quo, warning that they risk further inflaming tensions in occupied East Jerusalem and beyond.