In a blatant violation of religious freedoms guaranteed under international law, Israeli occupation forces stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Saturday evening, following the conclusion of Isha and Taraweeh prayers, forcibly expelling worshippers from the site.
The assault took place on the first day of Ramadan, when more than 70,000 worshippers had gathered at the mosque despite strict restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities on Palestinian access to the holy site.
The repeated attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, particularly during Ramadan, underscore Israel’s ongoing efforts to impose a new reality at the site through policies of Judaisation and temporal and spatial division. These actions cannot be separated from the broader military measures aimed at restricting Palestinian access and depriving them of their fundamental right to worship freely.
Such violations constitute a direct breach of international treaties and agreements that safeguard places of worship from desecration and attacks. Furthermore, they violate international humanitarian law, which explicitly prohibits an occupying power from altering the status quo of religious sites or restricting freedom of worship.
These systematic violations demand immediate international action to hold the occupation accountable and ensure concrete measures to halt such aggressions. Governments and international institutions must exert real pressure on Israel to respect religious freedoms and end all forms of encroachment on Islamic holy sites.
