Israel shuts Al-Aqsa Mosque and bans Ramadan prayer for third consecutive day
Israel has closed al-Aqsa Mosque for the third consecutive day, preventing Palestinian Muslims from praying at the site during the holy month of Ramadan, in what has been described as an unprecedented violation.
Palestinians warn that the move forms part of a broader Israeli strategy to exploit security tensions to impose further restrictions and consolidate control over al-Aqsa Mosque.
The closure comes under what Israeli authorities describe as a state of emergency following its launch of a war with Iran on Saturday.
The mosque, located in occupied East Jerusalem, will remain shut until further notice, with only essential activity permitted.
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem and one of al-Aqsa’s senior imams, condemned the “unjustified” decision.
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He told Al Jazeera the closure "signifies police control under the pretext of security".
'The situation at the mosque is dire'
- Islamic Waqf worker
“It contravenes freedom of worship and suggests that the occupation authorities are asserting control over the mosque and stripping the Islamic Waqf of its authority to administer it.”
The closure during Ramadan is unprecedented in recent memory, as al-Aqsa Mosque is rarely shut to worshippers.
Israeli forces briefly closed the site in 2014 and again in 2017 amid heightened tensions in Jerusalem. In 2014, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the move as a “declaration of war”.
The mosque was also closed during the Covid-19 pandemic on public health grounds. Aside from that period, no prolonged closure had been recorded since Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
However, Israel shut the site during the 12-day war with Iran in June, a move many Palestinians viewed as unprecedented at the time.
'New reality at al-Aqsa'
The latest closure, the first during Ramadan - when hundreds of thousands of worshippers would normally gather at al-Aqsa - has deepened concern.
“The situation at the mosque is dire,” said a worker at the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, the Jordanian-appointed religious endowment that oversees the management of the mosque complex.
'I do not recall it ever being closed in this way. The new reality at al-Aqsa, which we had feared, has now materialised'
- Mustafa Abu Sway, Islamic Waqf Council member
The worker, who spoke to Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity, said only a limited number of guards were permitted to cover day and night shifts, while others were barred from entering.
Since Saturday, Waqf officials have not even been allowed to bring them food, the worker added.
He said the closure comes amid what he described as an Israeli effort to empty the mosque of worshippers, with growing restrictions on the numbers allowed to enter even on ordinary days, alongside sweeping bans on specific individuals.
According to the worker, around 1,000 Jerusalem residents have received orders banning them from the mosque, including senior imams and 39 Waqf employees.
Dr Mustafa Abu Sway, a professor who teaches at al-Aqsa Mosque and a member of the Islamic Waqf Council in Jerusalem, said the closure was further evidence that long-feared Israeli changes to the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque have taken effect.
“I do not recall it ever being closed in this way,” Abu Sway told MEE.
“The new reality at al-Aqsa, which we had feared, has now materialised,” he said.
“There are dramatic changes introduced under the latest strategy, and it is not only during Ramadan. This includes preventing and banning a large number of Waqf employees from al-Aqsa Mosque, restricting the entry of certain loudspeakers and other measures.”
Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, is one of Islam’s holiest sites.
For decades, it has been governed under an international arrangement preserving its religious status as an exclusively Islamic site.
But since the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israelis have been gradually eroding that status through increasing restrictions on Palestinian and Muslim access, while expanding Jewish presence and control.
Israel's control of East Jerusalem, including the Old City, violates several principles under international law, which stipulate that an occupying power has no sovereignty in the territory it occupies and cannot make any permanent changes there.
Alongside the mosque’s closure, Israeli forces have imposed sweeping restrictions on merchants in the Old City and surrounding areas, forcing many, apart from food shops and bakeries, to shut their businesses.
Ibrahimi Mosque closure
The Israeli military has also closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, since the launch of the war with Iran.
The mosque’s director, Mu’taz Abu Sneineh, said the army had announced that all prayers at the site would be suspended “until further notice”.
The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron is among the holiest sites in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. It has been administered by Palestinians and used as a mosque for more than 1,400 years.
However, like al-Aqsa Mosque, it has long faced what Palestinians describe as Israeli attempts to alter its Islamic character in favour of an expanded Jewish presence.
Last month, Israel announced sweeping changes to governance in the West Bank, in moves critics say amount to de facto annexation, even without a formal declaration.
Hebron was explicitly referenced in those decisions. Under the new measures, authority over building permits and construction approvals in the city was transferred from the Palestinian Authority to the Israeli military.
This has raised concerns about the prospect of unchecked Israeli control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in the future.
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