OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), More than 1,403 Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem over the past week under heavy protection from Israeli police and special forces, amid a sharp rise in incursions and growing attempts to impose a new reality at the site.
The incursions coincided with measures by Israeli occupation police forces facilitating settler entry, including extending raid hours during the morning and evening periods and allowing settlers to remain inside the Mosque compound for longer periods.
The past weeks has witnessed a notable increase in the number of settlers entering the compound, along with an expansion of the time allocated for their incursions.
The move reflects a gradual shift in Israeli policy toward the Aqsa Mosque as part of systematic measures aimed at entrenching a new reality on the ground.
Observers say the developments form part of efforts to impose a policy of temporal and spatial division, which would allocate specific times and areas inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque for non-Muslims, in violation of the site’s historical and legal status quo.
These measures also contribute to strengthening manifestations of Israeli sovereignty over the Mosque through gradual steps intended to establish a permanent and growing settler presence.
The developments have raised widespread concerns over their implications for the Mosque’s identity and future.
In response, calls have grown in Jerusalem for Palestinians to mobilize and maintain a presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque to confront the repeated incursions and resist attempts to impose new facts on the ground and Judaize the site.
