by Syed Ali Mujtaba
In the cacophony of the shock and awe of Israel’s and the US’s attack on Iran, the news that has been buried under the debris of the Iran war is that Israel has closed the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for the Palestinian worshippers in the holy month of Ramadan. Israel has announced that the closure of the mosque, the third most revered mosque for Muslims in the entire world, is for an indefinite period.
The Al Aqsa mosque is said to be the place where Prophet Muhammad offered prayers during the miraculous Night Journey and Ascension (Isra’ and Mi’raj), a sacred event for the followers of Islam. This event is traditionally believed to have occurred around 621 CE. Since then Palestinian of East Jerusalem hold the right and title over their place of worship, a claim which looks like being forfeited after the Iran war.
The dispute arose after Israel was created on the Palestinian land in 1945. Jerusalem became part of Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967 against Palestine. Since then, the Jews started doing propaganda that the Al Aqsa mosque was their holy site.
This religious tension was managed through international mediation, creating an Islamic Waqf to preserve the religious status of this holy Islamic site. Under this, an arrangement was made about the control of the holy site. Muslims were given access to the mosque from the eastern side, while the Jews were given access to the western wall of the mosque. Since then, prayers never stopped at the Al Aqsa mosque till February 2026, when the Israeli raised security concerns and closed the Mosque.
Israel, before launching an attack on Iran on February 28, 2026, has taken control of the entire Mosque. A near-total lockdown of the Old Jerusalem accompanies the closure of the mosque. The vibrant Palestinian-run markets that remained functional bear a deserted look. Since the Iran war has begun, only residents of the Old City of Jerusalem have been allowed to roam, leaving the entire area a ghost place.
Israel has given the rationale of going to war with Iran, to build a greater Israel, taking lands from Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, thus expanding the boundaries of the modern-day Israel. In this grand design, Israel planned to demolish the Aqsa mosque and, in its place, build Solomon’s Temple.
It is in this context that Israel has announced the closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque. Palestinians have been barred from reaching the site, and there is a heavy presence of Israeli forces at the disputed site. Israeli forces have also installed cameras inside prayer halls within Al-Aqsa Mosque, including inside the Dome of the Rock, enabling constant surveillance of the site.
Since Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, Palestinians say the arrangement made by the international community in 1967 has been gradually eroded. There have been increasing restrictions on Muslim access to the site while the Jewish presence and Israeli control over it have expanded.
Aouni Bazbaz, Director of international affairs at the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, has told the media that the closure of the mosque has raised concerns about long-term changes. “This has fuelled fears that what is presented as a temporary measure could gradually become a permanent one. The restrictions on praying in the mosque and the patterns of access to the site are being altered. This is a grave injustice to the Muslim community in the entire world.”
Meanwhile, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a celebration took place on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan called Al Quds Day. Al Quds Day is named after the Arabic name for Jerusalem. The Al Quds Day celebration has been going on since 1979. This is to liberate the Palestinian land, including Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa mosque, from the Israeli occupation.
This year too, Al Quds Day rallies were held in Tehran and elsewhere to protest against the forceful occupation of Palestine by Israel. It includes the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Ironically, no such demonstrations were held in the Arab world or the Middle East, the region supposed to be the heart of Islam.
As the war rages, the entire Muslim community is looking to Iran to accomplish its war objective to liberate the land occupied by the Israelis and hand it over to the Palestinians. Will Iran liberate Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa mosque? Looking at the momentum of the Israel- US war against Iran gives Iran an unassailable advantage.
The Iran war had started with the assumption to cripple Iran’s military power, do a regime change, and divide Iran into six pieces. However, as the war enters its third week, Israel looks like it is getting extricated from the face of the earth. At the same the USA is seen to be pulling out of the Gulf region.
Iran never initiated the war, but as the war progresses, the course of the war has changed. It is a foregone conclusion that a victorious Iran will open the gates of Al Aqsa Mosque!
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
