Sheikh Raed Salah urges Palestinians to maintain presence at Al-Aqsa Mosque

Sheikh Raed Salah has called on Palestinians living in Israel to continue visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque and performing prayers there amid increasing visits by Israeli settlers and restrictions on Muslim worshippers.

In a video address, Salah urged residents of the Galilee, the Triangle, the Negev and coastal cities, including Acre, Haifa, Jaffa, Lod and Ramla, to travel to Al-Aqsa to pray, recite the Quran, offer supplications and observe I’tikaf, a form of religious retreat.

He stressed the importance of maintaining a Muslim presence at the compound, urging worshippers not to leave the mosque “alone.”

Salah described Al-Aqsa as an exclusive and eternal right of Muslims, saying that this right would remain until the Day of Judgment.

He warned that conditions at the mosque were changing, citing increasing restrictions on worshippers and what he described as an escalation in both the number and nature of visits by Israeli settlers.

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His remarks come amid reports of increased visits by Israeli settler groups to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including the performance of Jewish religious rituals.

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, 11,409 Israeli settlers entered the compound during the Jewish holiday period extending from the Jewish New Year through 1st October.

The governorate also reported that approximately 27,830 settlers entered the site during the third quarter of 2026.

Recent visits have included religious practices such as full prostration and the blowing of the shofar, a ceremonial ram’s horn, according to the report.

The reported developments have coincided with restrictions on Muslim worshippers’ access to the compound and the closure of dozens of shops in Al-Qattanin Market, near Al-Aqsa, during Israeli settler marches.

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