The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem said that more than 3,000 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday morning, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.

The Jerusalem Governorate said in a statement that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, extremist Knesset member Nissim Vaturi, and Likud Knesset member Amit Halevi led the storming.

It noted that Halevi performed Talmudic rituals inside the mosque courtyards and raised the Israeli occupation flag during the storming, in a 'provocative step that violates the historical and legal status quo at the mosque.'

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It stated that the occupation forces continue to impose strict measures at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and around the Old City, heavily deploying in various courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and preventing worshippers from entering the mosque.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads Israeli settlers' storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 23, 2026 - Reuters

It indicated that a very limited number of worshippers managed to reach the mosque during the dawn prayer and perform the prayer, before the occupation forces assaulted several citizens and worshippers with beatings.

Israelis perform Talmudic rituals in occupied Jerusalem's Old City, July 23, 2026 - Reuters

Hundreds of occupation police officers deployed to secure the incursions of tens of thousands of settlers at the Buraq Wall and the Old City in occupied Jerusalem.

'Violation of the status quo'

The Palestinian Presidency condemned the storming, considering it a 'flagrant violation' of the historical and legal status quo.

The Presidency affirmed that what is happening in Al-Aqsa Mosque constitutes a 'dangerous escalation, part of a systematic policy aimed at imposing new facts on the ground there and attempts to divide it temporally and spatially.'

It stressed that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in its entirety, is a pure place of worship for Muslims, and that the Israeli occupation has no sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites.

The Presidency called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and take a firm position obliging Israel to cease all its violations and unilateral measures in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.