Tensions Over Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Compound As Ramadan Nears

As the Gaza war rages and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan nears, concern has grown over potential tensions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a past flashpoint for violence.

The site in the Israeli-annexed Old City of Jerusalem is Islam’s third-holiest and Judaism’s most sacred, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Israel is yet to officially decide on restrictions for Muslim worshippers during Ramadan, expected to start around March 10, but proposals to limit numbers have already sparked angry backlash.

Last week, Israel’s hard-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir argued that Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank “should not be allowed” entry to Jerusalem to pray during Ramadan.

Usually, Muslims in their tens and even hundreds of thousands pray and break their fast at the compound, seized by Israel in 1967 and later annexed alongside the rest of east Jerusalem.

In 2000, a visit there by Israel’s then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon sparked Palestinian riots which precipitated the bloody, years-long second intifada, or uprising.

Violent clashes also broke out during Ramadan last year and in 2022, after in May 2021 the storming of the mosque by Israeli police spiralled into a brief but deadly war in Gaza.

Here is a look at recent developments around Al-Aqsa as Israel is fighting in the bloodiest ever Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Violence during Ramadan has often revolved around Israel’s policing of the compound, including restrictions on Palestinian access, as well as any moves that appear to challenge the historical status quo.

Under an agreement with Jordan, the custodian of the mosque, Jews can access the compound but not pray there, something which infuriates hard-right Israelis.

For the past three years, clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces have rocked the Al-Aqsa mosque compound during Ramadan, with the Israelis storming the mosque each time.

In 2021, clashes and the demolition of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem set off Jewish-Arab violence across the country.

Following several days of clashes in Jerusalem, Hamas launched hundreds of rockets into Israel, triggering an 11-day war.

Last week, Ben Gvir, who leads a hard-right party advocating Jewish control of the compound, said Palestinian residents of the West Bank “should not be allowed” entry to Jerusalem to pray during Ramadan.

“We cannot take risks,” he said, adding: “We cannot have women and children hostage in Gaza and allow celebrations for Hamas on the Temple Mount.”

Israeli media have reported discussions of a cap on the number of worshippers, but no official decision has yet been announced.

Yair Lapid, a former prime minister and centrist opposition leader who rejected an offer to join the war cabinet, accused Ben Gvir of being a political arsonist.

Ahmad Tibi, leader of one of the Israeli parliament’s Arab-majority parties, called the minister’s proposal a “blatant infringement on the freedom of worship”.

Efraim Inbar, president of Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said he expected Israel’s security establishment to make its own decision.

“Ben Gvir wants to make some gains domestically,” he told AFP, adding he expected the police, army and Shin Bet internal security agency would not enforce a “closure”.

“Otherwise, we will also lose our point of being the only one in the region to guarantee the freedom of religion.”

Meanwhile, the Israel Hayom newspaper said Ben Gvir was proposing a “cynical political gesture based on an extremely dangerous and volatile ideology” that would backfire.

Since the start of the Gaza war on October 7, the Israeli army has tried to keep Gaza separate from other Palestinian areas to avoid a flare-up in Jerusalem, the West Bank or Arab cities and towns inside Israel.

The Al-Aqsa mosque compound is a powerful symbol for religious and secular Palestinians alike, and defending it is something with the potential to stir up widespread unrest.

Closing the compound, said Israel Hayom, would be an “unnecessary provocation that would ultimately serve the interests of Hamas”.

Hamas denounced Ben Gvir’s remarks as “a violation of freedom of worship” and an “intensification” of what the militant group called “religious wars” waged against Palestinians.

The Islamist group called its surprise October 7 attack on Israel which sparked the war “Al-Aqsa Flood”, and has said that the fighting is, in part, about defending the mosque.

International mediators — Qatar, Egypt and the United States — have been trying to secure a ceasefire agreement before the start of Ramadan to halt the fighting for several weeks and win the release of at least some of the 130 hostages Israel says remain in Gaza.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army would carry out a “powerful” operation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city and last major population centre spared by Israel’s ground invasion, where more than half of the territory’s population have taken shelter.

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz warned this week that “if by Ramadan the hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere to include the Rafah area”.

Gantz was defence minister in 2014, when Israel launched its last ground incursion in Gaza, which also took place during Ramadan.