GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Around 350 Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday under the protection of the Israeli police forces, while a rabbi affixed a Torah scroll to one of the Mosque’s historic gates.
According to the Jerusalem Governorate, groups of settlers performed Talmudic rituals near the Dome of the Rock and carried out provocative tours throughout the compound.
A rabbi also installed what authorities described as a distorted Torah scroll onto the stones of Bab al-Qattanin (the Cotton Merchants’ Gate), one of Al-Aqsa’s western entrances.
In a brief statement, the governorate said the rabbi claimed the scroll, known as a “mezuzah”, was intended to bring “blessing and protection.”
The governorate added that this act is not unprecedented; similar scrolls were previously fixed onto two of Jerusalem’s gates, Al-Khalil Gate and Lions’ Gate.
Al-Aqsa Mosque has faced near-daily settler incursions, except on Fridays and Saturdays, the official weekend for Israel, during morning and afternoon periods. These repeated raids are widely viewed as attempts to impose temporal and spatial division at the holy site.
Local authorities warn that these actions form part of a broader effort by Israel to erase Jerusalem’s Islamic and historical identity and undermine Muslim sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Jerusalem activists continue to call on Palestinians in the holy city and inside the Green Line to maintain a strong presence at the compound to counter settler and Israeli plans, reaffirming that the Mosque is a red line.
Meanwhile, Israeli police forces continue to impose strict restrictions on Palestinian worshippers entering the Mosque, including ID checks and the confiscation of identity cards at the gates, further tightening restrictions on worshippers and those maintaining presence at the site.
