Omar Ahmed
Omar Ahmed
For decades, Masjid al-Aqsa has remained a powerful symbol of resistance, representing not just a religious edifice but a core of Palestinian national identity and a pivotal site in the broader struggle against the Israeli occupation. In one of the most recent incidents, in October, around 1,400 illegal Israeli squatters stormed the Aqsa complex to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
This was followed days later when hundreds of illegal squatters, under police protection, invaded the site again. In turn, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf and Affairs Council issued a warning that the occupation regime is enabling Jewish squatters to change the “status quo” at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
According to the Jerusalem Story website:
“The 19th-century Status Quo agreement regulates access to and administration of Jerusalem’s holy sites. Jordan’s Hashemite family has custodianship of all Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, including al-Haram al-Sharif compound, which is waqf property. Despite some violations after the 1967 War, the arrangements specified by the agreement have remained more or less intact.”
However, such organized violations of the sanctity of Islam’s third holiest site have been occurring since 2003, when the colonial occupation state started allowing illegal squatters into the compound on an almost daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.
Three years prior, then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon made a provocative visit to the Aqsa Mosque with the approval of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and protected by about 2,000 Israeli soldiers and special forces, triggering the Second Intifada or the Aqsa Intifada as it was also known.
The zionist movement, since its inception, has seen control over Jerusalem as a non-negotiable part of its expansionist ambitions. While the 1967 war established Israeli control over East Jerusalem, the constant storming of Al-Aqsa by squatters, particularly members of the religious zionist movement, represents a more insidious attempt to alter the character of the city—both spiritually and demographically.
The incursions into Al-Aqsa, often accompanied by provocative rituals, are designed to challenge this longstanding status quo, wherein the site is reserved as an Islamic place of worship, supposedly under Jordanian custodianship. These incursions, emboldened by Israeli police protection, have steadily increased, transforming into a tool to test Palestinian resolve and provoke broader escalations.
The frequency of these storming events has not only intensified but is also spearheaded by officials within the occupation regime who subscribe to religious zionism such as Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who also took part in the October storming.
In August, Ben-Gvir said in an interview with Army Radio that “If I could do anything I wanted, I would put an Israeli flag on the site.” When pressed several times by a journalist if he would build a synagogue at the Aqsa site if it were up to him, Ben-Gvir replied: “Yes.”
These figures often support the agenda to Judaize Jerusalem, aiming to shift the identity of the city from an inclusive spiritual center to one that marginalizes the Palestinian presence and claims an exclusive Jewish narrative.
Such rhetoric and actions are perceived as direct threats to al-Aqsa’s sanctity and an existential affront to the city’s Arab and Muslim identity. This steady encroachment underpins the broader project to further undermine prospects of Palestinian statehood and sever any ties that the Palestinians and the wider Muslim world have to the Holy City.
It is for this reason that last year’s Al-Aqsa Flood resistance operation was launched as an answer to the repeated provocations and threats to mosque. This was not an isolated event but rather the culmination of years of pressure, growing anguish, and unanswered violations.
Moreover, it signified a breaking point for the Palestinian factions, especially Hamas, who framed their actions as a necessity to protect the sanctity of Al-Aqsa and Palestinian dignity.
According to one official from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the goal of the operation was “to prevent the targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque, disparaging or insulting of Muslim religious rites, assault of our women, efforts to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque and normalize Israeli occupation of it, or divide it temporally and spatially.”
The operation which took the world by surprise was a direct response to the threats against Al-Aqsa, reinforcing the notion that continued desecration of this sacred site would come at a high cost for the occupation entity.
The ensuing genocidal war on Gaza, which saw relentless bombings and a brutal siege, and the parallel escalations in the West Bank and along the Lebanese border involving Hizbullah, underlined how central Al-Aqsa is to the wider Axis of Resistance.
For Hizbullah, for various Palestinian factions, and indeed for much of the Muslim world, Al-Aqsa is not merely a Palestinian concern—it is a collective red line. The opening of a support front demonstrated the interconnectedness of resistance movements, all united by a common cause: safeguarding Al-Aqsa from Judaization and asserting the rights of the oppressed against the occupying forces.
In the aftermath of October’s incursion at the site, Palestinian faction and Fatah offshoot, the Mujahideen Movement stated:
“The terrorist Ben Gvir’s attack today on Al-Aqsa Mosque is a crossing of all red lines and reveals the continuation of the Nazi entity’s regime with its Judaization plans that target Al-Aqsa Mosque, its entity and its Islamic identity.”
But where does this leave Jordan? As the official custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, Amman bears an important role when it comes to Al-Aqsa’s protection. However, Jordan’s responses have increasingly come under fire for being complicit in defending the occupation state rather than genuinely safeguarding the mosque and worshippers.
Despite the Hashemite Kingdom’s repeated and empty condemnations of Israeli actions, its measures have been largely limited to diplomatic rebukes, constrained by its delicate peace treaty with Israel and its dependence on western, particularly US, aid.
This has led to growing criticism from its large, if not majority Palestinian population and the broader Muslim community, who see Jordan’s actions as insufficient and even hypocritical in the face of an existential threat to Al-Aqsa.
The lack of substantial action during the latest Israeli atrocities, coupled with its support for the occupation state amid Iran’s retaliatory strikes, has further tarnished Jordan’s already low reputation. The Hashemite Kingdom’s reluctance to take a firmer stand has led many to question whether it is truly committed to its custodianship of Al-Aqsa or more concerned with maintaining favorable relations with Israel and the west.
Beyond Jordan, the responsibility to protect Al-Aqsa falls on the entire Muslim world. Countries like Turkiye, Iran, and Qatar have voiced stronger stances in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, yet the practical measures to deter Israeli aggression remain limited.
Iran’s involvement, particularly through its ardent and substantial support of the Resistance Axis, has been seen as a more direct challenge to Israeli encroachments, contrasting sharply with Jordan’s passivity and Turkiye’s hypocrisy.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also made declarations, but its influence and actions have not lived up to the urgency demanded by the escalating situation. That founding OIC member and custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Saudi Arabia is leveraging normalize talks with Israel doesn’t help matters either.
The fragmentation and disunity within the Muslim world have, in many ways, allowed Israel to act with impunity. Without a unified, assertive front that moves beyond rhetoric, Al-Aqsa remains vulnerable to incremental zionist encroachments.
The centrality of Al-Aqsa to the resistance cannot be understated. Every escalation that begins with incursions into the sacred compound carries the risk of expanding into a full-scale regional war, as witnessed with unfolding events in neighboring Lebanon.
The fragmented response from the Muslim world has thus far been insufficient to deter Israeli actions. To truly protect Al-Aqsa, a unified, actionable stance is required—one that combines diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military measures to ensure that the sanctity of this holy site is preserved.
The price of inaction is clear: continued desecration, heightened conflict, and the erasure of Palestinian heritage from one of the world’s most sacred cities.
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