Thousands of Israeli settlers entered the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday under heavy protection from Israeli forces, coinciding with what is referred to as the “Tisha B’Av” commemoration. Participants conducted provocative tours and performed Talmudic rituals, while Israeli forces imposed strict restrictions on Palestinian worshippers. The events followed calls by Temple Mount groups to intensify visits during the occasion.
According to the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, 3,228 settlers entered the compound during the morning entry period alone. The group was led by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Likud Knesset member Amit Halevi. The influx continued after Israeli police increased the number of participants in each group to around 150 settlers.
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces continued to enforce strict measures at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and throughout the Old City, preventing worshippers from entering. It added that only a very limited number of Palestinians were able to reach the mosque for dawn prayers before Israeli forces assaulted several worshippers.
In a later statement, the governorate said settlers wore tefillin and performed Talmudic rituals inside the mosque compound during the incursion. It also reported that settlers carried out the ritual known as “epic prostration” near Bab al-Rahma on the eastern side of the compound, while hundreds more gathered outside the Mughrabi Gate awaiting entry.
Earlier in the day, the Jerusalem Governorate said settlers had entered the mosque compound under heavy Israeli security, conducted provocative tours, and performed Talmudic rituals while access for Palestinian worshippers was heavily restricted amid renewed calls by Temple Mount groups to increase incursions during the occasion.
The governorate also reported that settlers held what they called the “Sovereignty March” in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday evening. The march began at Independence Park, built on the historic Mamilla Cemetery, passed through the Old City area, and ended at the Western Wall plaza on the eve of the commemoration. Israeli forces were heavily deployed throughout the city, while groups of settlers also gathered near Bab al-Qattanin, one of the western gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Thursday’s incursion by Ben Gvir, several Knesset members, and groups of settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque under Israeli police protection.
The ministry said the entry, along with reported assaults on worshippers, the raising of Israeli flags, and what it described as inciting slogans, constituted “a flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, a desecration of the sanctity of the mosque, and an unacceptable escalation and provocation.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Sufian Qudah called on the international community to take a firm stance compelling Israel, as the occupying power, to halt its ongoing violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and to stop what he described as provocative actions by Israeli officials and settlers.
He also warned of the consequences of continued incursions and violations affecting the historical and legal status of Jerusalem’s holy sites.
Attacks and Arrests
Separately, Hassan Mleihat, director of the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, said settlers vandalized water pipelines and blocked several roads in the town of Al-Zawiya, west of Salfit, on Wednesday evening.
Local sources also reported that settlers set fire to Palestinian land planted with olive trees near residential homes in the town of Jalud, south of Nablus.
On Thursday, settlers also entered the home of Mousa Mohammad Al-Tabna in the Al-Tabna Bedouin community near Khan Al-Ahmar, east of occupied Jerusalem, smashing windows, damaging property, and ransacking the house.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces carried out overnight raids across several areas of the occupied West Bank, arresting a number of Palestinians, according to local sources.
Three young men were arrested in the town of Burqa, northwest of Nablus. In Nablus city, Israeli forces also detained Palestinian intelligence officer Ali Zeidan, former prisoner Alaa Hassouna, and former Nablus mayor Adli Yaish.
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