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Al-Aqsa Reopens After 40 Days as Israel Extends Settler Visit Hours

Tight controls and longer visiting windows for non-Muslims have triggered fresh warnings that Israel is reshaping the site’s long‑standing status quo.

For the first time in 41 days, Muslim worshippers returned to Al-Aqsa Mosque
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, after restrictions were lifted following a ceasefire reached between Iran, Israel and the United States, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, after restrictions were lifted following a ceasefire reached between Iran, Israel and the United States, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshippers pray at Deir Al-Sultan monastery on top of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after restrictions were lifted following a ceasefire reached between Iran, Israel and the United States, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Overview

  • The Al-Aqsa compound, which reopened Thursday after a 40-day shutdown, drew about 3,000 worshippers for dawn prayers.
  • Israeli police deployed hundreds of officers, checked IDs, turned some men away, and detained worshippers, with the Jerusalem Governorate naming activist Munta Amara among those stopped at the gates.
  • Ultra-nationalist visits through the compound resumed under an expanded schedule of 6.5 hours a day, and the Jerusalem Governorate called the longer slots a dangerous step toward a time-based division of access.
  • Under the status quo, the Jordanian Waqf administers the site and non-Muslims may visit only during set hours without praying, and Palestinian officials say the extended timetable erodes those rules.
  • During the closure, far-right activists attempted seven Passover animal sacrifices at the site and circulated AI-generated images to popularize the ritual, moves analysts say aim to normalize permanent changes.