Israeli occupation settlers raised a large Zionist banner inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Al-Quds. The provocation took place during a settler incursion into the holy compound, with heavily armed Israeli occupation police securing and escorting the settlers inside Islam’s third holiest site.
The settlers hoisted the banner in the middle of the sacred courtyards, near Al-Qubbat As-Sakhrah, in a deliberate display inside the mosque compound. The act was carried out under the full protection of occupation forces, who prevented Palestinian worshippers from approaching and ensured the continuation of the incursion without interruption.
This act constitutes a blatant violation of the historic and legal status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has been under the administration of the Islamic Waqf and prohibits any non-Muslim prayers or political symbols inside its 144-dunam area. Since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, occupation authorities have facilitated an escalating pattern of settler stormings, Talmudic rituals, and attempts to impose a temporal and spatial division of the mosque.
According to Jerusalemite sources and Waqf officials, such banner-hoisting is part of a systematic Judaization policy pursued by the extremist occupation government. The incursions are routinely led through Al-Mughrabi Gate under police guard and have seen a sharp increase in recent months, particularly under the directives of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the occupation police.
The Israeli occupation routinely justifies such incursions under the pretext of “freedom of movement” for settlers, while simultaneously imposing severe restrictions on thousands of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip who are denied access to Al-Aqsa. Occupation authorities have intensified these measures to appease the far-right settler base ahead of expected Israeli elections on October 27.
The incident has triggered widespread Palestinian and Islamic condemnation, with Palestinian officials and Jerusalem activists describing the episode as evidence of organized desecration inside Al-Aqsa Mosque. They stressed that raising occupation symbols inside the holy compound crosses all red lines and constitutes a provocation to the sentiments of nearly two billion Muslims worldwide.
Palestinian authorities held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the sanctity, safety, and preservation of Al-Aqsa Mosque and for the consequences of its escalating violations. They warned that continued settler assaults under police protection amount to organized terrorism inside the blessed compound and called for urgent action to protect Al-Aqsa from ongoing Judaization attempts.
