854 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on the seventh day of the Jewish Sukkot holiday
Hundreds of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, the seventh and final day of the Jewish Sukkot holiday.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem reported that the number of intruders reached 854, including 733 during the morning incursions period and 121 during the afternoon.
During the incursions, the settlers performed collective and public prayers inside the mosque, interspersed with singing, dancing, clapping, and whistling. They also offered plant offerings in the eastern courtyards.
At the same time, settlers held marches and collective prayers at the outer gates of Al-Aqsa, carrying plant offerings and performing rituals at various gates.
The occupation authorities continued to impose strict restrictions on the entry of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Young men and women were prevented from entering during both incursion periods. Meanwhile, worshippers inside the mosque—mostly elderly—were subjected to repeated harassment, including restricting their seating and preventing them from entering certain areas during the incursions.
The Council of Islamic Endowments and Holy Places issued a distress call to King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, the Hashemite Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, calling for urgent Arab, Islamic, and international action to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to halt the most serious demolition of the religious and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is happening in 2025.
The Council affirmed that the occupation authorities and extremist Jewish groups are committing unprecedented violations, including intensifying large-scale incursions, violating the sanctity of the mosque, and attempting to alter its Islamic character through Talmudic rituals and prayers, shouting, dancing, singing, raising flags, prostrating themselves, and offering animal and plant sacrifices within the courtyards.
The Endowment Council stressed the need to halt all violations and occupation measures against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including interference in and obstruction of Hashemite reconstruction projects for the mosque, verbal and physical assaults on Al-Aqsa preachers, employees, and guards, and the expulsion of a large number of them from the mosque.
The Council also unleashed a policy of extremist incitement against Al-Aqsa and its employees, depriving thousands of Muslims of their right to access the Al-Aqsa Mosque, pray, and perform Islamic rituals within its premises. This is aimed at emptying it of worshippers and Judaizing it temporally and spatially.
The Endowment Council affirmed the sole right of Muslims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its 144 dunoms of land, and all its buildings, courtyards, walls, and roads leading to it, both above and below ground. The mosque is purely for Muslims, not subject to division or partnership.
