Al-Quds, MINA – The Aqsa Mosque has remained closed to Muslim worshippers for the 18th consecutive day, as Israeli authorities maintain sweeping restrictions on access to the holy site during the final days of Ramadan, raising concerns among Palestinian leaders of a deliberate campaign to alter the mosque’s administration, According to Palestine Information Center.
Israeli police have extended the closure through the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, according to Palestinian media sources, while strictly limiting the number of Islamic Awqaf employees permitted inside to no more than 25 at any given time.
Jerusalemite sources reported that when the Aqsa Mosque’s manuscripts department sought to bring in one additional staff member, Israeli police responded with a threat: allowing even a single extra employee would prompt authorities to open the site to settler tours.
The incident has fueled fears that occupation authorities are systematically working to erode Muslim presence and control over the third holiest site in Islam.
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Sources also expressed concern that Israeli police may have installed hidden surveillance cameras inside the Aqsa Mosque’s prayer halls and additional cameras across its courtyards, describing the measures as part of a “deliberate and calculated move aimed at imposing fundamental changes in the site’s administration.”
On Monday evening, Israeli police forces suppressed Palestinian worshippers attempting to perform nighttime prayers near Bab al-Sahira in Occupied Jerusalem, as the mosque closure entered its third week.
For the fifth consecutive day, Jerusalemites have gathered in areas adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque, particularly around Bab al-Sahira to perform evening and Tarawih prayers as an act of protest against being barred from their holy site during Ramadan.
Local sources reported that police surrounded worshippers in the Bab al-Sahira area, prevented them from praying, ordered them to leave, and physically assaulted one individual.
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In a related development, Israeli occupation police notified Ahmed al-Awar, a guard at the Aqsa Mosque from the Silwan district, of a decision banning his entry to the holy site for one renewable week.
The Jerusalem Governorate documented approximately 400 police orders during February alone banning Palestinian citizens from entering either the Aqsa Mosque or Jerusalem’s Old City, underscoring the systematic nature of access restrictions.
The ongoing closure marks one of the longest continuous lockdowns of the mosque during Ramadan in recent years, with Palestinian leaders warning that such measures threaten to ignite further tensions in the already volatile city.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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