Over 65,000 Jewish activists entered Al-Aqsa compound in 2025: Report

BEIRUT

More than 65,000 Jewish activists entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem during 2025, marking a 22% increase compared with the previous year, according to a report.

The figures were published in the International Jerusalem Foundation's annual report prepared using data from the Islamic Waqf Administration in Jerusalem.

According to the report, 65,364 individuals entered the site over the year, while visits involving Israeli political figures also rose significantly.

The foundation noted that Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was among the politicians entering the compound along with several members of parliament.

The number of such political visits increased from nine incidents in 2024 to 20 in 2025.

The report said Israeli authorities introduced new measures affecting access to the site, including extending visiting hours, increasing group sizes from 120 to 200 participants, and shortening intervals between entries.

These steps were described as attempts to alter the longstanding status quo at the holy compound and impose a new reality there.

Revocation of identity documents and education pressures

Beyond developments at Al-Aqsa, the report said that Israeli policies involving the revocation of residency and identity documents in Jerusalem continued, recalling that 14,929 Palestinians had lost their identification status between 1967 and 2024.

It also highlighted education-related pressures, noting a shortage of about 1,500 classrooms in occupied East Jerusalem and confirming that roughly 27% of Palestinian students aged 6 to 17 were enrolled in the Israeli curriculum.

The foundation warned that the current period represents a turning point in what it characterized as efforts targeting Jerusalem’s identity, citing what it described as intensified “Judaization” policies.

It added that approximately 77% of families in Jerusalem live below the poverty line.

The report further reflected Palestinian views that Israel is accelerating measures aimed at reshaping East Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa compound, and erasing the city’s Arab and Islamic character.

Palestinians, referencing international resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its 1980 annexation, continue to regard East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state.

Israeli data, meanwhile, indicated a higher figure, stating that 76,448 Jewish visitors entered the compound in 2025, representing a 31% increase compared with the previous year.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Demir in Istanbul