War, terror, diplomacy: What if Israel takes Al-Aqsa Mosque?
Reports from Jerusalem suggest that Israeli authorities are taking over one of Islam's holiest sites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque. If they do, experts say anything could
Reports from Jerusalem suggest that Israeli authorities are taking over one of Islam's holiest sites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque. If they do, experts say anything could happen, from war to terrorism to ending diplomatic ties. The statement issued after this week's meeting in Jordan was blunt about what might happen next. Israeli infringements on one of Islam's holiest sites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem, could lead to "a religious conflict with repercussions that will extend beyond the region and threaten regional and international peace and security," the foreign ministers of 10 countries belonging to the Arab League said after Wednesday's emergency meeting in Amman, Jordan. The statement was also signed by ministers from Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Malaysia. Jordan's foreign minister called the meeting because of mounting evidence that the Israeli government is surreptitiously changing a decades-old agreement meant to ensure intercommunal peace at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, an area of great religious significance to Muslims, Jews, and Christians. "We warn that tampering with the status quo … could trigger a religious conflict that will reverberate beyond Palestine and Jordan into the whole Muslim world," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the UK newspaper the Guardian before the meeting. Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a response, saying the statement was inaccurate and Jerusalem "has never been more open and accessible to worshippers of all faiths." Jews at Al-Aqsa: In 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 'Muslims pray on the Temple Mount, non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount' Image: Debbie Hill/UPI Photo/Newscom/picture alliance Why is Al-Aqsa such a big issue? Al-Aqsa is considered the third-holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The compound, also known as the Temple Mount, is also Judaism's holiest site — two Jewish temples are thought to have stood there — and it is also of significance to Christians for its biblical connections to Jesus Christ's life. Al-Aqsa also bears a lot of political weight because the mosque is seen by many as the embodiment of Palestinian identity, a flashpoint in a city sought as the capital of any eventual Palestinian state.
Because of the site's importance, when Israel first occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, it was deemed in the interests of Israeli national security to keep allowing Muslims to worship there. Jews could only visit and would not be allowed to pray there. Instead Jewish visitors perform religious rituals at the wall below the mosque, known as the Western or Wailing Wall. Jordan was also allowed to continue its century-old custodianship of the site, and today the mosque is administered by a religious trust called the Islamic Waqf, paid for by Jordan at about $20 million (€17 million) annually. Israeli authorities still take care of security there. Muslims say the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from Al-Aqsa Image: Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo/picture alliance This delicate compromise is known as the "status quo." But recent reports indicate that the situation has been changing. Residents of Jerusalem say dozens of mosque officials employed by Jordan have been prevented from entering Al-Aqsa this year. The number of Muslim worshipers halved during 2025, according to Jerusalem-based monitors. More Jewish worshipers are being allowed in and are increasingly overtly performing rituals, something forbidden for decades, including by Jewish religious authorities. The Times of Israel reported in January that police openly let Jewish visitors take printed prayer sheets onto the site for the first time. In June, there were also reports of an Israeli-US plan to turn the mosque area into a "multifaith center," although US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later denied any knowledge of such a plan. Why is this happening now? This is not the first time that the governments of Muslim-majority countries and activists in Jerusalem have issued such warnings. For decades, Jewish fringe groups, often referred to as the Temple Mount movement, have demanded that they be allowed to pray at the site. The most extremist of these groups say they want to demolish the mosque and construct a new Jewish temple. At first they were mostly ignored, Jerusalem-based lawyer Daniel Seidemann wrote in 2025. Seidemann is the founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem, an organization that tracks such developments in the city.
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