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SvennoJ on 26 May 2025
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Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to celebrate ‘Jerusalem Day’

A large number of Israeli settlers have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and surrounding areas in Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags, chanting, and performing Talmudic rituals.

Thousands gathered at the Western Wall in the early hours of the morning to perform prayers.

Settlers marched through the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City, going through the Muslim quarter to mark the so-called “Jerusalem Day”, which commemorates the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city after the 1967 war.

Thousands of heavily armed police and border police were dispatched in advance, as the settlers regularly assault, attack, and harass Palestinians and shops in the Muslim quarter.



Translation: A settler raises the occupation flag inside the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir ‘prays for victory’ in Gaza war after storming Al-Aqsa compound

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and other politicians have been among thousands who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and surrounding areas to celebrate “Jerusalem Day” and the occupation of the Palestinian territory.

Ben-Gvir released a video on his X account from the site – Islam’s third holiest – saying he “prayed for victory in the war, for the return of all our hostages, and for the success of the newly-appointed head of the Shin Bet – Major General David Zini”.

Negev and Galilee Minister Yitzhak Vaserlauf and Knesset member Yitzhak Kreuzer were among those accompanying the ultranationalist minister.

Backed by armed police, Ben-Gvir has carried out similar provocative moves in the compound before, often at sensitive junctures in the war, to advocate for increased military pressure and to block all humanitarian aid entering Gaza.



Israeli ‘Jerusalem Day’ march aimed at asserting authority

Videos show Israeli citizens inside the Old City of Jerusalem, attacking Palestinian shops and throwing objects at them. Meanwhile, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and others stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

There have also been protests in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, in the occupied East Jerusalem, where Israeli citizens stormed the compound of UNRWA. The organisation has already been banned, but nonetheless, its offices were stormed.

This is again a reminder that no one has immunity.

“Jerusalem Day” is when Israelis, in numbers reaching tens of thousands, carry out a march.

They start from the western side of the city, and they go through Damascus Gate, leading to the Old City inside East Jerusalem. They carry flags and chant anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian slogans.

The march ends at the Western Wall, a holy site in Judaism which is also in East Jerusalem.

These Israelis say Jerusalem is their undivided capital, whether it’s the eastern or western part, but the international community has not recognised Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem and considers this to be a negotiated issue in the final status negotiations.

Palestinians say there is no future Palestinian state without East Jerusalem as its capital.