Israeli settlers, protected by heavy Israeli police forces, continued their repeated incursions into the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday, in a clear and ongoing provocation against Muslim worshippers and the sanctity of Islam’s third holiest site.

The extremist settlers entered the mosque compound in successive groups, carrying out deliberately provocative tours while performing Talmudic rituals, including the so-called “epic prostration” ritual. These actions represent a flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa, which has stood as a purely Islamic place of worship for over 1,400 years.

It is noteworthy that such forms of prostration on stone are actually forbidden according to Jewish religious teachings. However, radical settler groups deliberately persist in these acts as part of a systematic campaign to impose a new reality on the holy site and desecrate its Islamic character. These provocations are widely seen as attempts to gradually Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque and erode Muslim sovereignty over it.

Muslim worshippers and Islamic authorities have repeatedly warned that these repeated incursions, enabled and protected by Israeli occupation forces, constitute a dangerous escalation and a direct assault on the religious rights of over 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide.

The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first Qibla of Muslims and the site of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) miraculous Night Journey (Isra and Mi’raj), has been subjected to increasing settler incursions and restrictions on Palestinian Muslim worshippers. Israeli authorities routinely facilitate these provocative visits while often restricting or preventing Muslims from accessing the holy compound, especially during times of tension.

Such actions fuel widespread anger across the Muslim world and are viewed as part of a broader Israeli strategy to change the Islamic identity of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. Islamic scholars and Palestinian leaders have called on the international community and Muslim nations to take urgent action to stop these violations and protect the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque from Zionist extremism.

The repeated storming of Al-Aqsa remains a highly sensitive issue that continues to ignite tensions across the region, as Muslims worldwide consider the defense of Al-Aqsa a religious duty. (ILKHA)