1678 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday and Monday during the so-called 'Feast of Atonement'

The distribution of incursions over two days is due to the nature of the so-called 'Feast of Atonement', which coincided this year with Monday, and is considered according to Jewish teachings the so-called 'Sabbath of Sabbaths', during which settlers refrain from food, drink, work, and movement, which prompts groups linked to the Temple to organize the so-called 'compensatory incursion' on the day before the holiday.

During the Sunday incursion, settlers performed Torah rituals and prayers openly and collectively, focusing some of them in the eastern courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which they monopolize during their incursions, and witnessed episodes of dancing, clapping, and epic prostration individually and collectively, while the rituals extended to other areas of the mosque, including the western courtyards opposite the Dome of the Rock.

Some of the intruders were also seen wearing prayer shawls 'Tallit' and black prayer scrolls 'Tefillin', carrying prayer booklets containing prayers and rituals specific to the incursion, along with 'Siddur' books that a number of incursion leaders are allowed to bring into the mosque, while the occupation police facilitated the distribution of these booklets at the mosque gates, in a practice that began during the current year, reflecting an escalation in the imposition of Torah tools within the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

This comes days after the registration of the incident of blowing the shofar inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the Jerusalem Governorate documented the shofar being blown about 30 times on September 13, coinciding with the so-called 'Hebrew New Year', in a development added to the series of Torah practices being introduced into the mosque under the protection of the occupation.

In the same context, the Minister of National Security in the occupation government, Itamar Ben Gvir, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the end of the incursion period and led a group of settlers in repentance rituals and prayers inside the mosque, in his twentieth incursion into the mosque since assuming office at the beginning of 2023, and his incursion came at the end of the specified time for incursions, which practically led to extending the period of the intruders' presence inside the mosque.

On the eve of the widespread incursion, the Prime Minister of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, participated in the so-called 'Selichot' prayers at the Western Wall, amid tight security measures, before moving to the tunnels under the Old City and the wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, coinciding with the crowds of settlers and the widespread security deployment around the Old City.

Earlier, after midnight on Saturday/Sunday, video clips documented groups of settlers performing Talmudic rituals and prayers in front of the Gate of Mercy from the outside of the wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in response to calls to gather at the site and perform the so-called 'Selichot'.

Monday, September 21, coinciding with the so-called 'Feast of Atonement', witnessed a widespread closure of Jerusalem neighborhoods and tightening of movement and access to the Old City, with non-residents being prevented from reaching it, coinciding with the tightening of occupation measures on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The same day witnessed a blackout on the facts of aggression inside the mosque, due to the settlers' abstention from using the Internet and social media during the holiday according to their religious rituals, which made it difficult to transmit and document what was happening inside the mosque, while the occupation authorities continued to impose strict restrictions on the access of Muslim worshipers to it.

A comparison of the number of intruders over previous years reveals an escalation in the number of participants in the incursions of the so-called 'Feast of Atonement', as the number of intruders in 2021 was about 369 settlers in the compensatory incursion and 290 in the actual incursion, and in 2022 it was 558 and 461 respectively, and in 2023 it was 673 and 486, while in 2024 it was about 334 in the compensatory incursion, and no actual incursion was recorded due to the holiday coinciding with Saturday, and in 2025 it was 547 and 468, reaching 992 in the compensatory incursion and 686 in the actual incursion in 2026.

Previous years also witnessed, coinciding with the so-called 'Feast of Atonement', the blowing of the shofar after sunset in the synagogue located on one of the floors of the Tenkriya School, which the occupation is seizing in the western portico of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while attempts continue to introduce more Torah tools, practices, and rituals into the mosque and its surroundings.

The Jerusalem Governorate confirms that what happened on September 20 and 21 represents an escalation in the aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in terms of the nature of the practices that accompanied the incursions, which included collective prayers and rituals, epic prostration, dancing, clapping, the introduction of tools, books, and religious clothing, and blowing the shofar, alongside the participation of ministers and officials in the occupation government in these practices.

The Governorate warned of the continuation of imposing these facts inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, affirming that what is happening targets the historical and legal status of the mosque, imposes new facts on one of the most sacred Islamic shrines, directly affecting the prerogatives of the Jerusalem Endowments and the freedom of worship and access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and requires serious action to stop this escalation and protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and preserve its identity.