At least 53,605 Israeli settlers stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem during the year 2024, according to the Islamic Endowments Department.
This is the largest number of settlers to storm Al Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the raids in 2003.
The year 2024 witnessed an unprecedented escalation in settlers performing Talmudic rituals and prayers during their incursions into Al-Aqsa, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
In 2023, 48,223 settlers stormed Al Aqsa Mosque, while more than 48,000 stormed it in 2022, and about 35,000 in 2021.
Israel permitted settlers to storm the mosque in 2003, despite the protests of the Islamic Endowments Department and its demands to stop this action.
Israeli raids occur daily, except Friday and Saturday, and increase during Jewish holidays.
Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site for Muslims, and the most sacred place for Jews. The site is located in East Jerusalem’s Old City, a territory that Israel annexed in the 1967 Middle East war along with the rest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, forces have imposed restrictions on entering Al-Aqsa, which are heightened on Fridays.
Israeli forces have installed barriers at the Old City entrances and Al-Aqsa Mosque’s outer gates, allowing only elderly individuals to pass.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have been waging a devastating war on Gaza Strip, leaving more than 45,541 deaths and 108,338 injured, causing massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
