OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), A coalition of Palestinian institutions has said that the number of Israeli orders banishing Palestinians from the Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City has exceeded 1,000 since the start of 2026, calling the measure a “systematic tool for reshaping the reality within the holy site.”
In a statement released Sunday, the coalition warned that the Israeli banishment policy is aimed at weakening Jerusalemites’ bond with the Aqsa Mosque and controlling Muslims’ access to their holy site.
The coalition also expressed concern over the escalating use of banishment orders, saying the policy would pave the way for the Israeli occupation to expand settler tours and change the status quo at the Aqsa Mosque.
The coalition called on Jordan, the custodian of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites, as well as Arab and Muslim countries and international organizations, to shoulder their responsibilities towards Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque.
In a related context, hordes of extremist Jewish settlers escorted by police officers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards on Sunday morning, amid tight restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the holy site.
According to local sources, at least 160 settlers entered the Mosque in different groups through its Maghariba Gate and toured its courtyards in the morning.
During their tours at the Islamic holy site, the settlers received lectures from rabbis about the alleged temple mount, and a number of them provocatively performed Talmudic prayers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation police imposed movement and entry restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque’s entrances and gates and prevented many of them from entering the holy site.
