In a significant escalation, the number of settlers storming Al-Aqsa Mosque reached 6,862 during Passover
During the week of Passover (from Sunday to Thursday), the Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed a wave of widespread incursions under heavy protection from Israeli occupation forces, in a dangerous and ongoing escalation of violations of the sanctity of the mosque.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported that the number of settlers who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound reached 6,862 over five days.
The settlers performed prayers and religious rituals publicly, both collectively and individually. Some of them prostrated themselves in several places inside Al-Aqsa, in addition to organizing singing and dancing sessions in the mosque's corridors. Their voices rose noticeably, as they clapped and chanted various prayers along the way.
The raids took place through the Dung Gate, which has been under Israeli control since 1967, in two periods: morning and evening (from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.). The center noted that the number of raiders peaked on Thursday, the last day of Passover holiday, with 2,258 settlers, followed by 1,743 on Tuesday, 1,149 on Monday, 1,218 on Wednesday, and 494 on Sunday.
The center stated that on Thursday, 1,651 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning raids, and 607 during the afternoon raids.
Members of the Knesset, senior rabbis, activists and leaders of extremist "Temple" groups, as well as students from seminaries and yeshivas, and families participated in the raids.
The Information Center stated that MK Tsevi Scott stormed Al-Aqsa on the last day of the holiday, and MK Amit Halevy stormed it on Monday.
The center stated that the occupation authorities have gradually increased the duration of the raids in recent months, and according to publications by extremist "Temple" groups, they continued until 3:00 PM, with the last group of settlers leaving after 3:15 PM.
During the Passover holiday, particularly on Tuesday and Wednesday, Israeli police brought successive groups of settlers into the mosque, each group comprising between 120 and 200 settlers, at intervals of no more than 15 minutes. This directly contributed to the increase in the number of intruders and the overcrowding of Al-Aqsa Mosque, given the small number of Muslims due to the strict restrictions imposed on their entry.
On the eve of Passover, the occupation police issued instructions facilitating the entry of large numbers of settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirming that they would ensure the entry of a group of intruders every ten minutes.
In parallel with these incursions, the occupation forces imposed strict restrictions on Muslim entry to the mosque, preventing large groups of young men and women from entering it, confiscating the IDs of the elderly who were permitted to enter, and restricting worshippers' seating areas, keeping them away from the settlers' incursions. They also threatened to arrest or expel them from Al-Aqsa if they objected, and young men who managed to enter Al-Aqsa were expelled outside it.
The occupation forces also turned the Old City and the surrounding areas of Al-Aqsa into a military barracks. They deployed heavily at the gates of the mosque, closed off main streets leading to Al-Buraq Square, and placed iron barriers at the entrances to Al-Aqsa.
The occupation forces prevented worshippers from being present at the gates, pursued them while they were stationed at the gates, and forced them to leave the area.
During Passover, the so-called "Temple" groups intensified their calls for settlers to participate extensively in the raids, encouraging the offering of "Passover sacrifices" inside or around Al-Aqsa in exchange for financial rewards. Some settlers attempted to bring goats into the mosque, before being arrested by the occupation police from the vicinity of Al-Aqsa and the streets of the Old City.
The Information Center indicated that the number of intruders this year exceeded previous years, with 4,345 in 2024 and 3,430 in 2023.
