Thousands Return to Al-Aqsa Mosque as It Reopens After 40-Day Closure

Thousands of Palestinian worshippers streamed into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday after Israeli authorities lifted a 40-day closure imposed during its military campaign against Iran, though the reopening came with heightened restrictions that Palestinian leaders say are accelerating the erosion of the holy site's protected status.

The compound, which houses the third holiest site in Islam and is located in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, was shut to Muslim worshippers for an unprecedented 40 consecutive days, drawing sharp condemnation from Qatar, Jordan, Turkey and the broader Arab and Islamic world. Officials warned that using active military conflict as a pretext to restrict access to Islamic holy sites set a dangerous and irreversible precedent for the site's legal standing.

Palestinian authorities and Islamic Waqf officials reported that while large numbers of worshippers returned for prayers, Israeli forces maintained a heavy presence at the compound's gates. Age restrictions on entry remained in place, with younger men barred from entering, while Israeli settlers resumed their near-daily incursions into the compound escorted by police — a practice Palestinian officials described as an unchecked effort to alter the mosque's character under military cover.

Jordan's Waqf ministry, which holds custodial authority over Al-Aqsa under a 1994 peace treaty with Israel, condemned both the closure and the conditions of the reopening, calling on the international community to uphold the historic status quo that prohibits non-Muslim religious worship at the site. Palestinian Authority officials echoed those concerns, warning that incremental changes to access and the unchecked settler visits amounted to a systematic campaign to permanently change the compound's identity.

Qatar, which has positioned itself as a leading advocate for Palestinian rights and a central broker in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, condemned the closure through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and called for full, unrestricted access to Al-Aqsa for Muslim worshippers. Doha has consistently raised the issue of settler incursions at the site in international forums, framing escalating Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem as part of a broader pattern that undermines the two-state solution and inflames regional tensions.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, headquartered in Jeddah, also issued a statement demanding Israel respect the legal and historical status of the holy site and immediately halt what it described as provocative settler activity conducted under police protection.

Worshippers who arrived Saturday described waiting hours at checkpoints before being admitted, with some turned away without explanation. Community leaders noted the experience underscored the fragility of access to their holiest site under occupation. The situation at Al-Aqsa remains a barometer of tensions across the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with escalations at the compound historically triggering unrest across Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.