OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
As tensions accelerate in Jerusalem, coverage is shifting from reporting isolated incidents to examining a broader, coordinated strategy targeting land, identity, and historical narrative. Developments surrounding Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque remain at the forefront of Palestinian and Arab attention, reflecting a deeper struggle over sovereignty, memory, and existence.
What unfolds inside the city walls and around Al-Aqsa extends far beyond local dynamics, shaping the wider Palestinian reality politically and on the ground.
Amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the situation in Jerusalem reflects a systematic Israeli policy aimed at expanding control and reshaping the city’s character. Daily developments, including settler incursions, expulsions, restrictions on worshipers, and assaults on guards and activists by Israeli occupation police forces, are not isolated events. Rather, they form part of a gradual strategy to impose new realities at Al-Aqsa and normalize them over time.
Why Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa remain a daily issue
Experts point to several key reasons. First, Israel treats Jerusalem as a decisive symbolic and political arena. The city holds deep religious and national significance for Palestinians, while Al-Aqsa is not merely a place of worship but a symbol of sovereignty and identity. Any changes, whether to entry regulations, prayer times, police presence, or settler routes, are seen by Palestinians as a direct challenge to their historical and religious rights.
Second, developments in Jerusalem are often implemented through incremental escalation. What begins as limited settler incursions under heavy police protection can evolve into public religious rituals, followed by calls to expand these practices across time and space, alongside tighter restrictions on Muslim worshippers. This gradual approach makes daily monitoring essential, as risks often emerge through repeated small actions rather than major announcements.
Third, Jerusalem remains a space of continuous public and political resistance. Palestinians in the city respond to violations not as fleeting news events but through sustained presence, mobilization, and defense of neighborhoods and holy sites, while documenting and exposing Israeli policies.
Field conditions at Al-Aqsa: Expanding incursions, tightening restrictions
In recent months, settler incursions into Al-Aqsa have intensified in scale, organization, and political backing. What was once limited to small groups under police protection has become part of a declared agenda supported by political and religious actors within Israel, aimed at enforcing a de facto temporal and spatial division of the Mosque, even if not officially announced.
At the same time, Palestinians face increasingly restrictive measures. These include tightened access at Mosque gates, targeting of young worshipers, expulsion orders against activists, and repeated attacks during religious occasions or periods of heightened settler mobilization. This dual policy reveals a clear equation: facilitation for settlers, punishment for Palestinian worshipers.
These developments are accompanied by a growingly hardline Israeli discourse. Ministers, lawmakers, and settler groups openly advocate for Jewish prayer rights at Al-Aqsa, working to shift the idea from the margins into mainstream policy.
In 2025 alone, 73,721 settlers entered Al-Aqsa compound, a 26.8 percent increase compared to 58,149 in 2024.
Jerusalem affairs expert Hassan Khater says what is happening at Al-Aqsa is part of a comprehensive project aimed at gradually imposing full Israeli sovereignty over the site. He notes that incursions follow a structured timeline, increasing in both scale and nature, including the introduction of overt Jewish religious rituals as part of efforts to enforce division within the Mosque.
From expulsions to arrests: Tools of daily control
Expulsion orders from Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem’s Old City have become a central tactic to remove what Palestinians describe as the Mosque’s “natural guardians.” When individuals, including youth, women, and Waqf employees, are banned for days or months, the goal extends beyond punishment to weakening the social environment that sustains a constant Palestinian presence.
In 2025, Israeli authorities issued 263 expulsion orders, including 159 from Al-Aqsa, six from Jerusalem, and 34 deportations of Jerusalem residents outside Palestine following prisoner exchange deals.
Arrests have also expanded beyond moments of confrontation. Israeli police frequently conduct arrest campaigns after incursions or periods of tension, targeting activists and well-known community figures. The approach, observers say, aims to make defending Al-Aqsa a continuous burden on Jerusalem’s society.
Additional measures include summonses for interrogation, assaults at entry gates, travel bans, fines, and surveillance, all part of a broader system to undermine public resilience. Yet, despite these pressures, the connection between Palestinians and Al-Aqsa remains unbroken.
In 2025, Israeli occupation police forces arrested 892 Palestinians in Jerusalem, including 105 children and 51 women. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the number of detainees has exceeded 3,149, with 801 arrests recorded in the first three months alone.
Beyond the walls: Reshaping Jerusalem’s neighborhoods
Coverage of Jerusalem extends beyond Al-Aqsa. In neighborhoods such as Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, Jabal al-Mukaber, Issawiya, and al-Tur, policies of home demolitions, land confiscation, urban restrictions, identity revocations, and economic pressure continue.
The objective, analysts say, is to reduce the Palestinian presence both physically and demographically while expanding settlement belts encircling the city.
These measures are accompanied by targeting of educational and cultural institutions, attempts to impose Israeli curricula, restrictions on civil society activity, and suppression of national events. Israeli authorities appear to pursue control not only through force but also by reshaping the public sphere and limiting organized Palestinian presence.
Each development, whether a home demolition or an Al-Aqsa incursion, forms part of a broader strategy aimed at determining Jerusalem’s future.
The role of responsible coverage
Responsible reporting goes beyond counting settler numbers or relaying condemnations. It contextualizes developments within political, legal, and on-the-ground frameworks. A rise in settler incursions, for example, signals increased official backing, while restrictions on access represent mechanisms of control and discrimination rather than routine security measures.
It also centralizes Palestinian voices. While many international outlets frame events as “clashes” or “religious tensions,” Palestinian perspectives emphasize the reality of occupation imposing facts by force against a population defending its rights and holy sites.
From this perspective, Palestinian media platforms, including the Palestinian Information Center, have built extensive expertise in documenting Jerusalem’s developments through sustained and contextualized coverage.
Escalation versus popular deterrence
Recent years have shown that Israeli authorities continually test the limits on the ground. If incursions proceed without significant political or public cost, escalation follows. Conversely, broad mobilization and regional pressure can temporarily alter calculations.
Jerusalem residents have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to disrupt major plans through collective action, as seen in past confrontations over electronic gates, Bab al-Rahma, and recurring mobilizations to defend Al-Aqsa.
However, the situation remains complex. Israeli policy often relies on prolonged pressure, regional distractions, limited Arab official responses, and constrained international pressure. As a result, resilience alone can be exhausting without broader political, media, and public support.
What to watch next
Indicators suggest Al-Aqsa will remain a central testing ground for Israeli policy. Efforts are ongoing to expand incursions, consolidate symbolic gains, and weaken Palestinian and Islamic oversight of the site. Across Jerusalem, settlement expansion and Judaization policies continue to accelerate.
At the same time, Jerusalem remains resistant to quiet transformation. Each incursion, expulsion order, or demolition reinforces Palestinian awareness of the city as a frontline of national identity.
Monitoring developments in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa is therefore more than a media necessity, it is part of a broader struggle over narrative, memory, and truth.
