Dozens of Israeli settlers conducted Talmudic rituals and performed dances near several entrances of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Monday morning, under the protection of Israeli occupation police forces.

Local Palestinian sources reported that the settler groups assembled at several of Al-Aqsa’s eastern and northern entrances — including Bab al-Asbat (Lion’s Gate), Bab al-Hutta, and King Faisal Gate — chanting and performing rituals widely seen by Palestinians as deliberate provocations and part of a broader campaign to Judaize the sacred Islamic site.

The settlers’ actions, conducted under the full protection of Israeli police, come amid heightened tensions in occupied East Jerusalem, where repeated incursions and attempts to impose settler presence around Al-Aqsa are escalating fears of further violations of the mosque’s sanctity.

Palestinian worshippers and residents view these settler gatherings as part of a systematic effort to change the religious and historical character of the area and undermine Muslim sovereignty over the compound. Many expressed outrage that such rituals continue to take place in full view of Israeli authorities, who routinely restrict Palestinian access to the mosque while enabling settler provocations.

Religious and political leaders have condemned the latest actions as an assault on Palestinian rights and a violation of the international status quo governing Al-Aqsa, which is supposed to be under the custodianship of the Jordanian Waqf.

The incident adds to growing concerns over the Israeli regime’s support for settler expansion and religious incursions at holy sites, further inflaming an already volatile situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. (ILKHA)