By Fayha Shalash – Ramallah

A provocative show of power by Netanyahu beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque signaled Israel’s accelerating campaign to assert sovereignty over the holy site, with illegal Israeli Jewish settlers emboldened and Palestinians increasingly under siege.

The scenes that unfolded in Jerusalem and around Al-Aqsa Mosque on the anniversary of the so-called unification of the city came as no surprise to Palestinians.

All signs on the ground indicate a rapid escalation toward asserting control over what remains of the two sites.

Thousands of illegal Israeli Jewish settlers gathered at the Al-Buraq Wall (which they refer to as Western or Wailing Wall), then stormed the Al-Aqsa compound, flooded the alleys of the Old City, and spilled into Damascus Gate, chanting racist slogans that reflect their ideology.

Throughout all this, Palestinians are crushed in their own city. If they leave their homes, they are beaten and assaulted. If they stay, they are still harmed—if not physically, then by the sounds of violence and provocation. Meanwhile, Israeli police stand as a protective fortress for the armed settlers.

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In a widely criticized video, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not appear at the Western Wall or in West Jerusalem, but instead emerged from a tunnel excavated beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque—dug specifically to Judaize the area—in a deliberate message asserting sovereignty and control.

Clear Assaults

Nizam Abu Ramouz, a resident of the town of Silwan—just a few hundred meters from the mosque—has witnessed this escalation firsthand. Once considered the southern stronghold of Al-Aqsa, Silwan is now besieged by settlement expansion: its upper reaches overtaken by settler outposts and its lower layers eroded by Israeli tunnels.

For the past four years, Israeli authorities have banned Abu Ramouz from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, issuing arbitrary deportation orders. He now prays in the street at the closest possible point to maintain a physical and spiritual connection with the mosque.

During the settlers’ marches and celebrations, Abu Ramouz set out to pray with elderly woman Nafisa Khweis and elderly man Khair al-Shami—both also banned from the mosque. As they reached the nearby street, they were assaulted.

“They spat on us, then approached us, pushed us, and demanded that we leave. We refused. Then they attacked us in front of the Israeli police, who did nothing to stop them,” he told us.

Abu Ramouz documented serious violations across the Old City, where settlers marched in large groups, attacked Palestinian shops, hurled insults at shopkeepers, and beat anyone they encountered in the alleys.

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On such occasions, Palestinians shut their shops to avoid being targeted. The Israeli police offer no protection—if anything, they often punish the victims rather than the attackers.

“The Old City and Damascus Gate Square were turned into military zones, and Wadi al-Joz was sealed off to prevent people from reaching Al-Aqsa. Even those without deportation orders were denied entry,” he added.

These scenes repeat annually, but this year they were particularly violent and aggressive under the directives of far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

“The settlers have received a green light from this extremist government to Judaize Al-Aqsa, with full state support and massive budgets to fund their raids,” Abu Ramouz said.

‘Netanyahu Was Lying’

Netanyahu’s appearance inside the tunnel—just meters from Al-Aqsa Mosque—was widely perceived by Palestinians as a deliberately provocative display of power and an attempt to reclaim symbolic ground after his failure in Gaza.

Abdullah Marouf, a researcher specializing in Al-Aqsa Mosque affairs, told us that the recent actions of fanatic settler groups in Israel have reached unprecedented levels. Just a month ago, during Passover, one of the largest-ever incursions into Al-Aqsa took place, with 2,268 settlers entering the mosque compound in a single day.

“This has never happened in the history of this conflict,” Marouf said. “What we are seeing is a major shift in how settlers approach the site—not merely as a place to visit, but as a place of worship.”

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He referenced the 2015 John Kerry accords, which affirmed that Jews would be allowed to visit Al-Aqsa but not pray there, while Muslims retained exclusive rights to worship within its compound.

“This changed in 2024, when settlers began declaring Al-Aqsa a Jewish place of worship, and Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly authorized all kinds of religious rituals. Since then, we’ve seen a dramatic change in the status quo,” he added.

Marouf also addressed Netanyahu’s claims while walking through a tunnel beneath Silwan—part of what Israel calls the “City of David.”

“That was absurd,” he said. “According to Israel’s own excavations—such as those by archaeologist Eilat Mazar—the ancient walls of Jerusalem date back 4,500 years. That’s fifteen centuries before King David is believed to have arrived in the city. When Netanyahu claims he’s walking on the ground of his ancestors, he’s simply lying.”

According to Marouf, Netanyahu’s stunt was pure propaganda—an attempt to retroactively manufacture legitimacy for an illegal occupation.

“And this propaganda is unacceptable—academically, historically, and politically,” he concluded. “The entire world still refuses to recognize Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)