Sukkot Entries at Al-Aqsa Test Jerusalem's Volatile Status Quo
About 700 Israelis entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on September 30, 2026, under Israeli police protection.
Jerusalem's Islamic Waqf Department, which monitors access to the compound, reported the figure for the fifth day of Sukkot. It said the group included former lawmaker Moshe Feiglin. Israeli police provided protection for the entry, according to the Waqf account carried by Al Jazeera.
A separate large entry took place on the Tuesday before September 30. In that incident, 966 Israelis entered the compound through the Moroccan Gate alongside Israeli police, performing rituals and singing in the mosque's courtyards. Police controlled movement around the site. The timing matters.
Israeli authorities closed the road leading to the Lions' Gate area and the entrance to al-Turba Road leading to Silwan on September 30. The stated purpose was to ease Israelis' access to the Western Wall. The closures affected Palestinian movement in adjacent parts of the Old City and Silwan during the holiday visits.
Sukkot in 2026 runs from September 26 to October 2, followed by Simchat Torah on October 3. The festival period routinely brings increased visits by Jewish groups to the compound and the Western Wall, under heavy police deployment, and parallel restrictions on Palestinian access.
The September 30 entries followed other entries during the same holiday week. On September 28, illegal Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under the protection of Israeli police during Sukkot, according to Reuters.
Petra, Jordan's news agency, reported on September 13 from occupied Jerusalem and Ramallah that dozens of illegal extremist Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Its archive also lists a report titled '458 Israeli Settlers Storm Al-Aqsa Compound' dated September 21, 2026, and a report titled 'Illegal Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque as Israeli forces detain 20 Palestinians in occupied West Bank' dated August 31, 2026.
Other incidents reported this year illustrate the wider friction around access and land. On March 16, 2026, Muslim worshippers prayed in the streets outside the Al-Aqsa mosque after Israel shut access to the mosque, according to Reuters. On September 17, Israeli settlers set fire to olive groves in the town of Burqa in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to Palestinians. Diplomatic fallout from such raids has precedent. On April 16, 2022, Morocco condemned an Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa mosque, saying the escalation undermines peace efforts.
The broader context here is familiar to anyone who works on Jerusalem. The compound sits at the intersection of religious observance, policing doctrine, and custodial administration. Entries organized around Jewish holidays, conducted under police escort through the Moroccan Gate, with ritual activity inside the courtyards, tend to test the informal understandings that have governed non-Muslim visits and Muslim worship. The Waqf's daily counts have become the reference point for diplomats tracking scale. Israeli police statements tend to frame the operation as maintenance of public order and freedom of access.
Looking at what this means for the days ahead, the calendar is the variable to watch. With Sukkot continuing through October 2 and Simchat Torah following on October 3, the potential for further large entries, additional road closures, and confrontations over access remains elevated. For external actors, particularly regional states with a stated stake in Jerusalem, the sequence of numbers from September 13, September 21, September 28, September 29 and September 30 creates a record that will shape démarches and public messaging. The question is not only how police manage the remaining holiday days, but whether access restrictions and escort practices become normalized into the next cycle.
