Jewish settlers break into Al-Aqsa Mosque

A group of Jewish settlers broke into Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli forces, videos circulating on social media showed.

Palestinians were performing the dawn prayer in the courtyards of the mosque despite Israeli restrictions.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina, and is a key symbol of Palestinian identity.

In 2024, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir provocatively said he would build a synagogue on the mosque’s compound if he could. He has been criticised for ignoring the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jews praying at the site.

“If I could do anything I wanted, I would put an Israeli flag on the site,” Ben Gvir said in an interview.