Top Jerusalem Islamic official calls on West to tell Israel: Don’t mess with Al-Aqsa
A drone view of the Dome of the Rock in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall following restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities, on 5 April 2026
Lubna Masarwa and Peter Oborne report in Middle East Eye on 6 April 2026:
A senior member of the Islamic Waqf that administers Al-Aqsa Mosque has called on western governments to urge Israel not to “mess with the holy places in Jerusalem”. His call comes as alarm mounts that Israeli authorities are permanently seizing the occupied East Jerusalem site, one of the holiest in Islam, in contravention of the Status Quo agreement that enshrines its Islamic nature.
For the last five weeks, Israel has imposed a blanket ban on Muslims entering the mosque, even for Friday prayers, Eid al-Fitr and Laylat al-Qadr. The forced closure left the ancient and revered mosque and its vast courtyards empty throughout almost all of Ramadan, with Muslims resorting to holding prayers on the surrounding streets instead.
In a rare public intervention, Mustafa Abu Sway, deputy head of the Islamic Waqf council, told Middle East Eye that the closure risked destabilising the whole region.
“If we are talking about the stability of the region, the western governments should come forward with statements about the stability of the Status Quo which will not allow Security Minister [Itamar] Ben Gvir or Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to cause more damage,” he said.
“This would send a clear message to Israel they should not mess with the holy places in Jerusalem.”
There is frustration among Muslim Palestinians that the West is displaying double standards when it comes to Muslim and Christian worship. A week ago, the United States, Italy, Spain, the Vatican and others strongly rebuked Israel for denying Catholic leaders from worshipping in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday. Their statements forced a near-instant reversal from Netanyahu.
By contrast, the Israeli closure of Al-Aqsa has been greeted by western silence. Jordanian MP Saleh al-Armouti, head of the Islamic Action Front parliamentary bloc, has pointedly described the Vatican’s intervention on behalf of the Holy Sepulchre as a “brave and courageous stance”. “I call on the Pope to demand the opening of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said.
Rigidly enforced
Israel closed Al-Aqsa Mosque on 28 February, the day it launched a war on Iran alongside the United States, citing security concerns.
The Old City, where Al-Aqsa Mosque sits alongside several other major Christian and Jewish sites such as the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall, has also been largely closed off.
But while the restrictions of Jewish and Christian sites have been occasionally relaxed, Al-Aqsa’s closure has been rigidly enforced.
And in late February, shortly before the war and closure, the mosque’s imam, Sheikh Muhammad al-Abbasi, was arrested inside its courtyards.
Muslim-majority countries, led by Jordan, have repeatedly petitioned the Israeli authorities to allow worshippers in. In early March, a joint statement by eight of them denounced the restrictions as a “flagrant violation” of both international law and “the principle of unrestricted access to places of worship”.