The Hamas warned Tuesday that the continued closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli authorities for the eleventh consecutive day during the holy month of Ramadan represents a dangerous escalation and an unprecedented measure not seen since the Six-Day War.

In a press statement, the Palestinian movement said the ongoing restrictions — including the prevention of Tarawih prayers and the banning of i‘tikaf, the traditional spiritual retreat observed in the mosque during the final days of Ramadan — constitute a clear violation of freedom of worship and a serious provocation against one of Islam’s holiest sites.

Hamas warned that keeping the mosque closed could have serious consequences and called on the Muslim world to take urgent steps to protect the sacred site and halt what it described as ongoing Israeli violations against Islamic holy places.

According to the statement, Israeli authorities are enforcing the closure under what the movement described as “weak and unjustified pretexts,” while extremist settler organizations continue to incite actions against the mosque. Hamas pointed to growing activity by radical groups that advocate greater Jewish control over the compound, warning that the closure could facilitate further attempts to alter the mosque’s status.

The movement said the prolonged shutdown highlights the seriousness of Israeli plans aimed at changing the religious, historical, and legal status quo at the mosque compound, including proposals to impose temporal and spatial divisions between Muslim worshipers and Jewish visitors — a move Palestinians strongly oppose.

Hamas also accused extremist Jewish groups of attempting to take advantage of the closure to perform Talmudic rituals inside the mosque’s courtyards, describing such actions as part of a broader effort to assert control over the site.

Reaffirming the Palestinian position on the matter, the movement stressed that Israel “has no sovereignty or legitimacy over any part of Al-Aqsa Mosque,” emphasizing that the compound is an exclusively Islamic waqf under international and historical recognition.

Hamas called on Arab and Muslim countries, governments, and international organizations to take immediate action to prevent Israel from implementing policies aimed at changing the status of the mosque and to support Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces dispersed groups of Palestinians on Tuesday evening as they attempted to reach the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray as close as possible to the compound while it remained closed.

Local sources reported that Israeli forces were heavily deployed around the entrances to the mosque, preventing worshipers from approaching the gates and forcibly pushing several people away from the area.

The closure has remained in effect since the outbreak of the latest regional escalation, during which Israeli authorities have barred Palestinians from entering the mosque compound or performing prayers inside.

Despite the restrictions, Palestinian activists have continued urging residents to gather and pray at the closest possible points to the mosque’s gates in a symbolic effort to challenge the closure and defend access to the holy site during Ramadan. (ILKHA)