Israeli control of Al-Aqsa Mosque is intensifying, monitor says

The Ir Amim Association, an Israeli monitor, has expressed concerns about escalating violations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Middle East Eye reported on October 2nd.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is widely recognised as an exclusively Islamic place, which only Muslims are allowed to use for worship.

The concerns come amid worries that the Israeli authorities are increasingly asserting control over the religious site, which threatens the stability of the status quo of the compound as an Islamic site.

The report from the monitor suggests that the Israeli government exploits Jewish holidays to heighten Jewish presence in the area, which violates the rights of Muslims at the site.

Researcher at Ir Amim, Aviv Tatarsky, said that Jewish prayers on Temple Mount go “hand in hand with the exclusion of Muslims”.

“Under the guise of religious Jewish connection, Israel is steadily taking control of the holy site,” Tatarsky also said.

In the Jewish holiday of Sukkot that begins on October 7th, Tatarsky expects thousands of Israelis, accompanied by the authorities, to go to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, “creating a potential flashpoint”.

Tatarsky added: “Immediate steps must be taken to safeguard Muslim freedom of worship and prevent escalation.”

Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is located in Occupied Jerusalem, has increasingly become a site of Israeli aggression, including being stormed by Israeli settlers, who are protected by Israeli authorities.

Muslim worshippers, who were participating in dawn prayers, were forced by Israeli authorities to evacuate the compound on June 13th, after which the gates were closed off.

This shutdown came amid an Israeli lockdown of the Occupied West Bank, with local sources saying that military checkpoints and gates in the area were shut by Israeli officers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once published a video of himself walking through a tunnel beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque; the video was published on “Jerusalem Day”, which celebrates Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank.

The video caused provocation, which was likely the video’s purpose due to Jerusalem Day regularly being marked by Israeli settlers entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, along with the use of racial slogans and violence against Palestinians.

A total of 1,220 settlers stormed the mosque on day three of the Jewish holiday of Passover, reportedly with the protection of Israeli police.

Israeli authorities restricted access to the mosque for Muslim worshippers during the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan. Israeli authorities first allowed settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2003.

Extremist “Temple Groups” have campaigned for unrestricted entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque on May 26th.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org