Al-Aqsa Mosque: Status Quo ‘Collapses’ Amid Israeli Actions & Ramadan Tensions
Israeli police detained the imam of al-Aqsa mosque on Monday, as tensions escalated during the first night of Ramadan, prompting warnings that a decades-old agreement governing the site is collapsing. The arrest, coupled with a police raid of the mosque compound, marks a significant escalation in a series of actions that have raised concerns about potential unrest in Jerusalem and the wider region.
The six-decade-old status quo arrangement, established after the 1967 Six-Day War, stipulates that only Muslims are permitted to pray within the al-Haram al-Sharif compound – known to Jews as the Temple Mount. While Jews are allowed to visit the site, Jewish prayer is prohibited. Recent actions by the Israeli government and police, however, are increasingly challenging this agreement, according to experts and officials.
Daniel Seidemann, a Jerusalem lawyer who advises governments on issues related to the city, described al-Aqsa as “a detonator,” noting the historical precedent for unrest triggered by perceived threats to the site’s sanctity. “It’s usually around the same thing – a real or perceived threat to the integrity of sacred space. And that’s what we’re witnessing,” he said. He added that the current situation is “exponentially more sensitive” given the volatility in the West Bank.
The escalating tensions are fueled, in part, by the appointments of far-right officials to key security positions. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has eight prior criminal convictions including for supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism, has publicly advocated for increased Israeli control over the site, including raising the Israeli flag and constructing a synagogue within the compound. Ben-Gvir has made multiple visits to al-Aqsa in the past year, and has supported changes to the status quo allowing Jewish prayer and singing within the area.
These changes have been facilitated by the appointment of Maj Gen Avshalom Peled as Jerusalem police chief in January, reportedly with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The police have likewise begun allowing Jews to bring printed prayer sheets onto the site, a practice previously prohibited. According to Seidemann, “The status quo has collapsed because there are prayers on a daily basis… In the past, the police were very strict about preventing any kind of provocation.”
The Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed body responsible for managing the al-Aqsa site, has faced increasing pressure in the lead-up to Ramadan. Waqf sources report that five of its staff members have been placed in administrative detention by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, while 38 have been banned from entering the site. Six imams have also been denied access. The Waqf also alleges that its offices have been ransacked and that it has been prevented from carrying out necessary repairs and providing basic amenities for worshippers, including toilet paper, sun shelters, and temporary clinics.
Palestinian officials provided slightly different figures, reporting 25 Waqf staff members banned and four detained. Neither the Jerusalem police nor the Shin Bet responded to requests for comment regarding these allegations.
Further exacerbating tensions, the Jerusalem police extended visiting hours for Jews and tourists to the site from three to five hours daily in the first week of Ramadan, a unilateral change to the established arrangements. On Tuesday evening, police raided the compound again during the first night prayers of Ramadan, according to social media posts and reports from the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Amjad Iraqi, a senior Israel/Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group, warned that a confluence of factors could incentivize attempts to alter the status quo further. “Last year was relatively smooth, but this year there are a confluence of so many factors on the Israeli and Palestinian sides that may incentivise the Temple Mount activists to try and create new alterations,” he said.
Iraqi also noted a shift in Israeli government attitudes towards international opinion. “There has been a diffusion of impunity… Israelis have been able to accomplish a lot outside of the constraints they thought existed politically, militarily and diplomatically, in Gaza and the West Bank. So why would they feel bound by international opinion?”
On Thursday, approximately 400 settlers entered the compound, where witnesses reported they sang, danced, and prayed aloud. The situation remains volatile as Ramadan progresses, with no immediate indication of de-escalation from Israeli authorities.