Jerusalem – Thousands of Israeli settlers led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and members of the Knesset stormed the compounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem under heavy police protection. The mass incursion coincided with Tisha B’Av, sparking strong Palestinian and Arab condemnations warning against changing the site’s historical and legal status quo.
Mass Incursion and Talmudic Rituals
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem reported that 3,228 settlers entered the mosque’s courtyards during the morning hours, accompanied by Ben-Gvir alongside Knesset members Nissim Vaturi and Amit Halevi. Local authorities noted that Israeli police increased group sizes to approximately 150 settlers each while imposing strict access restrictions on Palestinian worshippers, assaulting several at the gates.
Settlers performed Talmudic rituals inside the courtyard, including wearing Tefillin, carrying out “epic prostrations,” and raising the Israeli flag inside the mosque complex, driven by ongoing mobilization efforts from Temple organizations.
Regional Outrage and Escalation Warnings
The Palestinian Presidency strongly condemned the event, labeling it a dangerous escalation intended to impose temporal and spatial division over Al-Aqsa, and called for urgent international intervention.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its absolute rejection of the incursions, characterizing them as clear violations of international law and the historical status quo of Islamic and Christian holy sites. Simultaneously, the Arab League warned that persistent provocations threaten to trigger wider instability and regional tension.
The mass incursion led by Ben-Gvir and the performance of Talmudic rituals represent an overt challenge to Al-Aqsa’s historical status quo, raising fears of escalating unrest across Jerusalem and the broader region.
