According to a report by the Jerusalem Governorate, 27,830 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the third quarter of the current year, in addition to the entry of 13,113 people under the guise of tourism, in light of the expansion of the scope of religious practices and rituals with the participation of ministers, Knesset members, rabbis, and leaders of Temple groups.
Repeating rituals may turn exceptional practices into an imposed reality
The advisor to the Jerusalem Governorate, Marouf Al-Rifai, believes that what is happening at Al-Aqsa Mosque goes beyond incursions to attempts to change the nature of the practices inside it, through performing prayers, collective prostration, blowing the shofar, dancing, and singing, and bringing in religious symbols and tools, under the protection of the Israeli police.
Al-Rifai warns that the repetition of these practices may lead to the imposition of new facts inside the mosque, explaining that the danger of what is happening lies in the accumulation of measures and their gradual transformation into habitual practices, which may pave the way for imposing a temporal or spatial division.
He points out that monitoring the numbers of intruders, the nature of the rituals they perform, and the locations where they concentrate, in addition to the restrictions imposed on Muslim worshippers, reveals attempts to expand the scope of these practices, leading to allocating times for settlers and restricting the entry of Muslims during them.
The Jerusalem Governorate documented, during the third quarter of the year, the repetition of collective prayers, prostration, blowing the shofar, and bringing religious books, tools, and plant offerings into the mosque, in conjunction with imposing restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshippers and harassing the employees of the Islamic Waqf Department, according to its quarterly report.
69 thousand settlers have stormed Al-Aqsa since the beginning of the year
Researcher and expert on Palestinian-Israeli relations Ali Al-Awar said that about 69,000 settlers have stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the year, noting that the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, with the participation of the extremist Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, encourages these incursions within the framework of the trends of the Israeli right.
Al-Awar explained that the escalation is linked to attempts to change the historical and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, pointing out that there are Jewish rabbis who have issued fatwas prohibiting Jews from entering the mosque, including Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and his son Yitzhak Yosef.
He pointed to the role of settler groups, including the "Temple Mount in Our Hands" group, in organizing the incursions and calling for their intensification, explaining that some Jewish religious interpretations link the construction of the Third Temple to divine intervention and the return of the Messiah, not to human effort.
Al-Awar linked the escalation of incursions to Israeli political and electoral calculations, noting that the right wing seeks to attract the votes of the religious-nationalist current and demonstrate control over Al-Aqsa Mosque, and stressed that possessing power does not mean possessing sovereignty over the place.
The escalation of incursions coincided with the approach of the 26th Knesset elections, scheduled for October 27, 2026, according to the official schedule of the Israeli Central Elections Committee, while election campaign advertisements began on television and radio on October 13, two weeks before the polling date.
Moving to rituals and the judicial path threatens the status quo
Academic and researcher in international relations and American and Israeli affairs Hussein Al-Deek said that what has been happening at Al-Aqsa Mosque over the past two years reflects a cumulative path that goes beyond incursions to consecrating religious rituals within its courtyards, with the participation of settlers from the religious Zionist current, and under the protection of the Israeli police.
Al-Deek noted that the number of intruders exceeded two thousand settlers on one day, in conjunction with the performance of prayers and rituals associated with the Sukkot holiday, and the introduction of the Four Species of plants associated with the occasion—the etrog, myrtle, palm frond, and willow—and leaving them inside the mosque.
According to the Jerusalem Governorate, the number of intruders on September 30 reached 2,474 settlers, which is the "highest daily number" recorded by the governorate during the five days of the Sukkot holiday covered by its monitoring, extending from September 27 to October 1.
Al-Deek explained that the repetition of these rituals may turn them into habitual practices, pointing out that groups associated with the so-called "Temple Mount" are demanding that Jews be allowed to enter the mosque on Saturdays, and have resorted to the Israeli Supreme Court to demand this.
Al-Deek warned that the issuance of a judicial decision in this direction could affect the status quo that has existed since 1967.
Israeli efforts to turn Al-Aqsa into a shared place of worship
Palestinian academic and researcher on Israeli affairs Mohammed Halsa said that Al-Aqsa Mosque represents one of the central arenas of conflict, noting that Israeli trends seek to change its nature from a purely Islamic place to a shared place between Muslims and Jews, leading to an attempt to impose Jewish control over it.
He added that the focus is shifting, after attempts to impose temporal division, towards allocating space inside the mosque for performing Jewish rituals, with special attention to the Bab al-Rahma area.
Halsa explained that the extremist Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir is exploiting Palestinian circumstances, Arab division, and regional developments related to the conflict between Iran and the United States, in addition to Israeli electoral calculations, to push these trends.
He pointed out that the past four years have witnessed an escalation in Israeli measures related to Al-Aqsa Mosque, prisoners, and settlements, compared to previous governments, noting that the Israeli government deals with these steps on the basis that their political and security costs are containable.
The incursions during the current year witnessed the participation of Israeli officials, including Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who participated in storming the mosque on July 23, in conjunction with the incursion of 4,248 settlers on that day, according to the Jerusalem Governorate's report on the third quarter of the current year.
The alleged Temple is a declared Israeli goal
Director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights Ziad Al-Hammouri said that the incursions and religious rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque come in the context of efforts to establish the so-called "Temple," noting that this goal was on the table in Israeli discussions before October 7, 2023.
Al-Hammouri explained that bringing five red heifers and the Israeli government's allocation of funds for projects related to building the Temple reflect the existence of practical steps in this direction, noting that the events of October 7 hindered these efforts, and that they may resume at a greater pace.
He pointed out that these movements include incursions, rituals, and attempts to provide legal paths for them, in addition to circulating video clips and models embodying the alleged Temple at the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
He added that using the term "Temple Mount" instead of Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of an attempt to consolidate an Israeli narrative regarding the site, warning that the repetition of these steps aims to change the existing reality and prepare the conditions to impose new perceptions regarding the future of the mosque.
