“Being banished from al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of Jerusalem is like a death sentence for me; I don’t know how to breathe when I am away from al-Aqsa or to live without the alleys of the Old City,”1 said Mahmoud Ibrahim, 35, a Palestinian resident from one of the Old City’s neighborhoods.

Ibrahim is unsure of the reason for his ban. Israeli police officers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque and arrested him and many other Palestinian men who were performing religious seclusion (i‘tikaf) during Ramadan in February of this year. Authorities issued Ibrahim and the others and one-month bans from al-Haram al-Sharif. Since then, although a month has long passed, every time he tries to reach the Old City, Israeli police detain him. They have informed Ibrahim that he is banned from the Old City and al-Aqsa Mosque, and Israeli intelligence officers have also threatened that he would remain banned from entering al-Aqsa Mosque for the rest of his life; however, he never received any formal notice. Until today, the reason for his ban is unknown, especially given that Ibrahim did not engage in any political or social activity.

Ibrahim is considering approaching a local or Israeli human rights organization to help him understand the reason for his ban.

Ibrahim’s case is not included in the official figures of those banished from al-Aqsa Mosque. Rather, he is among hundreds of undisclosed cases of individual Palestinians  whom Israel has banned from entering the Old City or al-Haram al-Sharif. Most prefer to remain silent for fear of prolonged punishment by Israel. Therefore, this story often flies under the radar.

In the first half of September alone, Israeli forces have issued banning orders to dozens of Palestinians.2 The police or intelligence officers raid their homes and hand them summonses to appear at al-Qishleh Police Station in Jerusalem for interrogation. Sometimes the orders are given over the phone. Once there, the summoned individuals are handed orders banning them from al-Aqsa Mosque for one week, with a requirement to reappear at the end of this period, whereupon the order can be renewed for weeks or months.3

Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked and Israel launched its genocide in the Gaza Strip, Israeli security forces have imposed strict and unprecedented restrictions on access to the Old City and entry to al-Haram al-Sharif, the entire grounds of al-Aqsa Mosque.

There are thousands of young men in Jerusalem who have not entered al-Haram al-Sharif since then, because they are prevented from reaching it. They are stopped at the gates of the Old City and sent back to their homes. Among them is Saeed Abdel-Hay, 23. “I have not seen al-Aqsa Mosque for two years. Every time I try to reach the mosque, I am stopped at Bab al-Amud, Bab al-Sahira, and Bab al-Asbat, and I am immediately sent away. If I do not comply, I am assaulted. This has happened more than once. Is it reasonable that al-Aqsa is only half a kilometer from my house and I cannot pray in it?”4 he told Jerusalem Story.

Nitham Abu Ramouz, 33, a resident of Silwan, has served with the Murabitun for several years. During that time, he was banned three times. “[This is because] when the settlers enter al-Aqsa, we call out Allahu akbar,” Abu Ramouz told Al Jazeera. During the bans, he goes as close as he can to the compound, praying just outside its gates.5

“It is our holy place. We have to protect it from attacks. It is part of our faith and connection; it would be a disaster if we didn't protect it,” Abu Ramouz said. “Despite being beaten, arrested and taken to court, we will keep protecting [al-Aqsa].”6

Many Palestinian women are also banned from entering al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding areas, including al-Ghazali Square, near Bab al-Asbat, or in front of Bab al-Silsila.

Hanadi al-Halawani is considered one of the most frequently banned Murabitat from al-Aqsa Mosque, which Israel has been banned her from entering for more than 11 years, including on Islamic religious holidays such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

Just days ago, she and another active member of the Murabitat, Khadjia Khweis, were summoned to the police station and handed orders banning them from al-Aqsa Mosque for one week, which as specified in the order will subsequently renew for six months. Khweis shared that her order even specified something unusual and new, which is not to have “any contact, whether direct or indirect, with any of the persons named below, unless I permit it in writing.” As shown below, the order dated August 13, 2025 lists eight names, including women.

Despite being arrested and persecuted more than once, al-Halawani calls on everyone who can reach al-Aqsa Mosque “not to forsake this honor, and for anyone who can serve the Mosque from outside Palestine not to forsake this great honor, the honor of guarding the Mosque.”7 She insists that entering al-Aqsa Mosque and guarding it is an honor and must be at the forefront of all.

During Ramadan 2020, al-Halawani was photographed turning over a pot of the famous Palestinian dish maqluba with al-Aqsa Mosque in the background, and the image went viral around the world.

For many Palestinians, the image of maqluba being served in the courtyards of the mosque became associated with the act of steadfastness and symbolism of those banned from al-Aqsa. Al-Halawani revealed in an interview that during her last arrest, she made maqluba in prison, and the “guards went crazy.” One of them told her, “You cook maqluba everywhere you go—in Turkey, at al-Aqsa Mosque, and even in prison.”8 “I enjoyed how angry they had become over a pot of maqluba, and I realized that I had successfully transformed the dish into an icon of resistance,”9 she said.

It seems that this female-led popularity is what prompted Israeli police to prevent banned women from sitting near al-Aqsa Mosque. To Israel, their absence is an elimination of a symbolic hero of peaceful resistance to the unjust and illegal decision to deny Muslims their right to worship at their holy site.

Israel has even targeted the Islamic Waqf Department, the official Jordanian-appointed body responsible for managing the affairs of al-Aqsa Mosque and all Islamic holy sites and waqf properties in Jerusalem, with banning orders. More than 20 Waqf Department employees, all guards, who are on the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf’s payroll, have been banned from al-Haram al-Sharif for various periods ranging from a few months to six months, subject to renewal.10 The Waqf Department is responsible for maintaining security inside al-Haram al-Sharif according to long-standing agreements predating even the State of Israel over the administration of the third holiest site in Islam (see What Is the Status Quo?).

These banishments from Islam’s third holiest mosque seriously impact the guarding function at al-Haram al-Sharif. The Israeli authorities have purposely reduced the number of Waqf Department guards during the hours when extremist Jews breach the holy site. This allows extremist groups to move freely within the grounds under the full protection of the Israeli police, while any Waqf Department guard is prohibited from approaching within 150 meters of the Jewish groups or taking photographs. Anyone who does so is immediately arrested and banned from entry to al-Haram al-Sharif.11 Under the current Netanyahu government, Israeli police are now also responsible for security inside al-Aqsa Mosque. According to a source in the Waqf Department who prefers to remain anonymous, guards are being banned for illogical and implausible reasons, which negatively impacts their work.12 Hardly a month goes by without decisions to ban guards and other Waqf Department employees.

Even Islamic religious leaders are not spared. In late July, Israel banned Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the longtime preacher of al-Aqsa Mosque, a member of the Waqf Council, and the mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, from al-Aqsa Mosque for eight days and then renewed it to six months due to a Friday sermon in which he spoke about Gaza and condemned Israel’s policy of starving the population there. Israeli police arrested him inside al-Aqsa Mosque following Friday prayers.13

Sheikh Hussein told Jerusalem Story, “The decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to ban me from al-Aqsa Mosque for six months is unjustified and is not based on any legal justification. The Israeli decision came because of a sermon in al-Aqsa Mosque, during which the occupation police accused me of posing a threat to the congregation of the holy mosque.”14

“I refused, saying that I do not pose a threat to al-Aqsa. I also refused to sign a document holding me responsible for incitement or danger; I remind everyone that I have been at al-Aqsa Mosque for more than 55 years, 43 of which were as a preacher, and we will remain the guards of al-Aqsa Mosque as long as we live,” he added.

From the beginning of this year until the end of early August, the number of those banned from al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City has reached more than 293, including ordinary citizens and Waqf Department employees, according to a report prepared by the International Jerusalem Foundation.15 

Wadi Hilweh Information Center also reported that during 2021, 519 individual banning orders were issued against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem as well as those who are Israeli citizens (see Table 1). This is the highest number of individual bannings ever recorded up to that time.16

“The people of Jerusalem, in light of the city’s reality and the absence of a political, religious, and social authority, have become exhausted, scattered, and powerless; they have nothing but their bare chests to confront the bitter armed reality we live in,” Ibrahim told Jerusalem Story, with signs of exhaustion and helplessness on his face, expressing what most Jerusalemites feel these days.

He concluded his remarks before running back home, his eyes brimming with tears as he bid farewell to al-Aqsa Mosque from afar, muttering verses from the Quran.

Days before the Jewish High Holidays, which fall in late September and early October this year, Israeli police delivered banning orders to more than 40 Palestinian Jerusalemites to stay away from al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel says this act is a “precautionary measure.” This comes ahead of the season of intensive raids, which will begin on the evening of September 22, coinciding with the Jewish New Year.

Palestinian men and women are continuously and unjustifiably banned from entering al-Aqsa Mosque. While Palestinians are unable to change Israel’s restrictions on their entry, many of them are determined to continue fighting for their right to visit and pray in their homeland and Islam’s holy place.

Some of the well-known people who have been banned from al-Aqsa Mosque include Fouad al-Qaq, Moab Abu Khdeir, Nour Hamada, Musa Fatafta, Naseem Hamada, Khadija Khweis, Hanadi al-Halawani, Yousef al-Rishq, Wissam Kastero, Khalil Ghazzawi, Majed al-Jubeh, Abdul Rahman Bakirat, Yaqoub Abu Asab, Sami Fatiha, Salim al-Jubeh, Ishaq Hamada, Izz al-Din Attoun, and Owais Hamada, Ibrahim al-Abbasi, Ismail Afaneh, Ziad Abu Hadwan, Suhaib Afaneh, Ayoub Afaneh, Imad al-Abbasi, Bashar Obaidi, Dujana Attoun, Najeh Bakirat, Daoud Bakirat, Abdul Rahman Rukn, Jamil al-Abbasi, Samir Mujahid, Hussam al-Abbasi, Muhammad al-Abbasi, Mufid al-Abbasi, Nidal Siam, Obeida al-Tawil, and Mahmoud Barakat.