Israeli Settlers Enter Al-Aqsa Under Police Protection, Egypt Warns of Escalation Risk

Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem under police protection, raising the Israeli flag and singing the national anthem, a move described as a serious violation of the holy site’s historic status quo.

“File Photo: The Dome of the Rock shrine is lit up at dusk at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, East Jerusalem”

Ahram Online

The incident was accompanied by footage of groups of extremist settlers entering the Haram al-Sharif compound in the Old City and opening Israeli flags inside the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Israeli police did not intervene.

Ahram Online

In the same reporting, tensions also rose after Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian school under construction near Ramallah, and site supervisor Ali Munasira said the attackers broke 40 wooden doors and three metal doors, stole security cameras and electrical generators, and caused approximately $80,000 in damage.

Egypt condemned the recurring actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque as provocative practices that undermine the religious significance of the site and contravene established legal and historical arrangements governing the holy places in Jerusalem, warning the escalation risked further inflaming tensions.

Turkish Foreign Ministry statements condemned the raid by Israeli extremist groups on the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli security forces, warning that the actions “constitute a clear violation of international law and risk further deepening instability in the region.”

Omar Rajoub, director of the Media Department at the Jerusalem Governorate, said raising the Israeli flag inside the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and performing provocative rituals is part of a “systematic and deliberate official Israeli policy led by the extremist occupation government.”

Ahraminfo

In Egypt’s framing, the foreign ministry said Cairo cautioned against any attempts to alter the existing reality in occupied Jerusalem or encroach on religious holy sites, and renewed its call on the international community to assume its responsibilities in halting ongoing Israeli violations.

Middle East Eye’s investigation described a coordinated effort by “both Washington and Tel Aviv” to remove Jordan’s custodianship over Al-Aqsa, presenting it as a systematic campaign to erase the Islamic presence in Occupied Jerusalem and describing the plan as a direct call upon Muslims worldwide to act.

Ahraminfo reported that Egypt protested a new Israeli incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, describing it as a flagrant violation of international law and an escalation that could undermine efforts to restore stability.

“Jerusalem — An official report released today, Tuesday, documents a rising pattern of crimes by the Israeli occupation against the residents of the Jerusalem Governorate and its institutions, alongside Judaization measures aimed at expelling residents and changing the city's geographic and demographic character”

Al-Jazeera Net

Egyptian diplomacy, as cited in the same report, argued that any attempt to modify the historic and legal status of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) would only exacerbate regional tensions, and it called for dividing the city into East Jerusalem, dependent on a Palestinian state, and West Jerusalem, dependent on Israel.

The report also said WAFA described at least 508 settlers storming the mosque courtyards on Wednesday, April 22, under heavy police protection, and it linked the pattern to a policy of systematically locking down the esplanade illustrated during the last Eid al-Fitr by the total ban on worshipers accessing their holy site.

In parallel, TRT World warned that the entire 144-dunam area of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and it said since 2003 Israeli police have unilaterally allowed the occupiers to enter the mosque daily during two periods—morning and afternoon prayers—except on Fridays and Saturdays.