Over 2,000 illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, under heavy protection from Israeli troops, to observe a religious event, sparking tensions with Palestinian Muslims at the holy site.
According to the Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department, approximately 2,250 Israeli settlers entered the complex and conducted Talmudic rituals.
Reports also indicated that some settlers waved Israeli flags during their incursion into the mosque complex.
The settlers’ actions were in response to calls from extremist Jewish groups to commemorate Tisha B’Av, an annual Jewish fast day marking several disasters in Jewish history, as reported by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The group entered the mosque through the western Al-Mugharbah Gate, a route commonly used for such incursions.
Israeli forces closed roads leading to Jerusalem’s Old City, deployed hundreds of soldiers, and effectively turned the area into a “military barracks,” imposing strict restrictions on Palestinians attempting to access the mosque, according to Wafa.
Al-Aqsa Mosque, regarded as the third holiest site in Islam, is also referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount, believed to be the location of two ancient Jewish temples.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and annexed the entire city in 1980, a move not recognized by the international community.
