Israelis sing national anthem inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during raid

A group of Israeli ultranationalists raised the national flag and sang the anthem during a raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday.

At least 199 Israelis took part in the police-protected incursion, according to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, the body responsible for administering the site.

In addition to raising the flag and singing the national anthem, some participants were seen performing Talmudic prayers.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in occupied East Jerusalem, is one of Islam's holiest sites.

For decades, it has been governed by an internationally recognised status quo arrangement - a set of rules and regulations regarded as a binding international norm and long recognised by world powers. Under this arrangement, the mosque is designated as an exclusively Islamic site where only Muslims are permitted to worship.

While only Muslim prayers are allowed within the complex, access, maintenance and administration of the site fall under the authority of the Islamic Waqf, under the protection of Jordan.

Israel has for decades been accused of violating the status quo, increasingly facilitating near-daily incursions by ultranationalists, who pray, dance and raise Israeli flags within the complex.

Settlers held flags and sang Israel's national anthem during a raid of Al-Aqsa on Sunday. For years, police raids, visits by Jewish extremists and calls by ministers for Jewish prayers have increased, fuelling accusations that Israel is trying to change the site's status quo. pic.twitter.com/iCoVIXCPJY

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Omar Rajoub, director of the media department at the Jerusalem Governorate, said that "raising the Israeli flag inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, along with performing provocative rituals, is part of a systematic and deliberate official Israeli policy led by the extremist occupation government".

"These practices aim to impose new realities by force in occupied East Jerusalem and undermine the historical and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque," he added.

Rajoub warned that the actions of settlers form part of an ongoing colonial project to Judaise the city and erase its religious and historical identity.

He said that such incursions, carried out under the protection of Israeli authorities, constitute "a clear violation of international law" and held the Israeli government fully responsible for the escalation.

As settlers stormed the site on Sunday, Israeli police further restricted access for Palestinian worshippers attempting to enter the mosque. Several reported that their identity cards were confiscated at the complex's outer gates.

The Waqf, which operates under the custodianship of the king of Jordan, said settlers deliberately provoked guards and worshippers by taking photographs inside the courtyards, including in front of the Dome of the Rock.

For decades, Israel prohibited displays of the Israeli flag and Jewish prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque over fears that such actions could trigger violence in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories.

However, ultranationalist groups, which advocate the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque, have long opposed these restrictions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government has increasingly permitted Jewish prayer at the site since taking office in 2022.