Palestinian Territory – Israeli authorities' restrictions on freedom of worship in Jerusalem are not only a grave violation of religious freedom and international law, but also part of a systematic apparatus of repression within a broader structure of settler colonialism and apartheid. These measures are used to subjugate Palestinians and reshape the city's demography along discriminatory religious and ethnic lines.
These measures reflect a deliberate Israeli policy to consolidate colonial control by excluding Muslim and Christian Palestinians and marginalising their religious and national presence in Jerusalem, while granting privileges to settlers and keeping Jewish places of worship and commercial facilities open without comparable restrictions.
The ongoing Israeli closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque since 28 January 2026, under the pretext of a state of emergency and Home Front Command instructions following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, goes beyond a temporary security measure. It marks a new phase in Israel's ongoing efforts to impose coercive realities in Jerusalem. Israeli authorities are using the war and emergency measures as cover to accelerate policies aimed at reducing the Palestinian presence and erasing the city's historical and religious identity.
The closure of Jerusalem to Muslim and Christian worshippers, while heavy security is provided for settler incursions and Jewish access and religious practice remain largely unrestricted, demonstrates that these measures are not neutral security policies
Israeli authorities have maintained the full closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque for the 37th consecutive day since 28 February 2026, completely preventing religious rituals, including in enclosed internal facilities such as the underground Marwani Mosque, which can accommodate around 4,000 worshippers. This undermines any claim that the restrictions are based on security needs, "protective arrangements," or a "state of emergency."
While Muslims are barred from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque during the most significant religious periods, including Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, Israeli police provide heavy protection to tens of thousands of settlers, allowing them to enter the mosque's courtyards, bring in prayer materials, and perform public Talmudic rituals. This reflects discriminatory enforcement of restrictions and undermines the site's historical and legal status quo.
The danger of these practices extends beyond the incursions and rituals themselves. They are driven by extremist right-wing groups, including so-called "Temple groups," which openly declare their political goal of imposing temporal and spatial division at Al-Aqsa Mosque and advocate demolishing the Dome of the Rock to build a "Third Temple" in its place. This is reflected in settler groups' public celebrations on social media, where they describe the mosque's closure to Muslims as a "declaration of war" and a "victory" in the effort to impose exclusive Jewish sovereignty over the site.
These restrictions no longer merely raise concerns but rather reflect a systematic Israeli strategy to impose a new reality in Jerusalem aimed at undermining the existing historical and legal status quo, diminishing the authority of the Islamic Waqf Department, and gradually reducing Palestinian presence. Israel recognises that Al-Aqsa Mosque is not only a place of worship, but also a central pillar of Palestinian national, political, and religious identity. Targeting Palestinian presence there, therefore, constitutes a direct attack on that identity and an attempt to weaken it, within a broader context of officially supported efforts to reshape the site's religious and historical character through practical steps toward imposing temporal and spatial division.
Israeli restrictions have not been limited to Al-Aqsa Mosque but have also affected the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the same period. Access to the church has been restricted under measures imposed on the Old City since 28 February 2026.
On 29 March 2026, Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Ielpo, from entering the church to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, despite their travelling individually and without any ceremonial display.
These measures are not merely disproportionate or selective restrictions; they are manifestations of an Israeli-imposed apartheid system based on the systematic domination of one racial group over another and the systematic oppression of Palestinians through discriminatory control over access to holy sites and fundamental rights. This system grants Israeli Jews privilege and control while depriving Palestinian Muslims and Christians of their inherent right to worship and to be present in Jerusalem.
The closure of Jerusalem to Muslim and Christian worshippers, while heavy security is provided for settler incursions and Jewish access and religious practice remain largely unrestricted, demonstrates that these measures are not neutral security policies but are implemented in a discriminatory and unequal manner.
During the height of the "state of emergency," which Israel invoked to close Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi Mosque, Jerusalem witnessed large Israeli gatherings in synagogues and streets in early March 2026 to celebrate Purim. Despite official restrictions on public gatherings, Israeli police often limited their response to warnings, while celebrations continued across the city. In contrast, police used batons, sound grenades, and tear gas to disperse Palestinian worshippers near the Old City as they attempted to perform Taraweeh prayers on 17 March 2026 and Eid al-Fitr prayers on 20 March 2026 after being denied access to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
This stark contradiction in Israeli policies exposes the depth of the apartheid system. While authorities keep commercial and recreational facilities, including Mamilla Mall, fully open to the public despite their proximity to besieged holy sites, they simultaneously deny a fundamental human right: freedom of worship and access to sacred places. This shows that the restrictions are not based on genuine security necessity but are used as a discriminatory tool to subjugate Palestinians and restrict their religious presence in the city.
The continued closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque has become a coercive tool for reshaping Palestinian presence through restricted access, the exclusion of influential Jerusalemite figures, and the erosion of the collective religious and national connection the mosque represents.
This approach predates the current closure and is reflected in systematic policies of bans, summonses, and restrictions, including more than 250 expulsion orders issued since the beginning of 2026. Many of these orders covered Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, and were repeatedly extended, confirming that the reduction of Palestinian presence at Al-Aqsa is not a response to an emergency security situation, but part of an ongoing Israeli policy, now taking its clearest form in the full closure imposed under the pretext of security.
The international community must take immediate and serious action to halt Israel's unlawful restrictions on freedom of worship and access to holy sites in Jerusalem, and to compel Israel, as an occupying power, to stop using security pretexts and the state of emergency as cover for restricting the fundamental religious rights of Palestinian Muslims and Christians, and to ensure respect for the historical and legal status quo of the city's Islamic and Christian holy sites.
The United Nations, including the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion or belief and on contemporary forms of racism, must take clear public positions condemning these actions and work to document and follow up on them as part of a broader pattern of discrimination and systematic persecution against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.
Additionally, the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention must fulfil their legal obligations and take practical measures to end Israeli violations in East Jerusalem, including by exerting effective political, diplomatic, and legal pressure to stop the continued imposition of coercive measures on holy sites and prevent Israel from exploiting impunity to further undermine Palestinians' religious and national rights.
Effective international protection for freedom of worship and access to holy sites in Jerusalem must be ensured through fact-finding missions or independent international monitoring mechanisms to monitor restrictions imposed on worshippers, document patterns of discrimination, and provide oversight of measures affecting holy sites and the Palestinian residents of the city.
All Israeli measures aimed at changing the religious, historical, and legal character of Jerusalem must be halted, including the closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque, restrictions on access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, support for settler incursions into holy sites, and policies of expulsion and harassment targeting Jerusalemite religious and national figures. These practices should be recognised as part of a broader project to reshape the city's reality in a way that excludes Palestinians and marginalises their authentic presence there.
Protecting freedom of worship in Jerusalem is inseparable from protecting the Palestinian presence in the city. Therefore, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls on the international community to treat these violations as infringements of inalienable rights, not merely temporary administrative or security measures, and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability and non-recurrence, including by supporting international investigation and accountability mechanisms for the serious violations committed against Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
