Far away from the attention of media and public officials, noticeable but unreported escalations occurred regarding Israel’s relations with the Islamic Waqf authorities during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which came to an end on March 30, 2025. The number of Muslim worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque declined; Israel banned Waqf Department staff members from accessing Jerusalem’s holy sites; and Jewish extremists and Christian Zionists both displayed an increase in anti-Islamic rhetoric.

In an unprecedented manner, during the last several days of Ramadan, tensions at al-Aqsa Mosque worsened as Israeli authorities expelled dozens of Islamic Waqf Department employees, including media official Firas al-Dibs, without explanation.

Al-Dibs explained that what initially appeared to be a temporary decision to ban him from entering al-Aqsa Mosque for two days was extended without any stated reason. When his two-day ban ended, Israeli police informed him that the expulsion was extended for an additional two months. “I haven’t done anything political. This decision is unjust and inhumane,” al-Dibs told Jerusalem Story.1 According to Waqf Department officials, more than 30 of its employees were expelled from the mosque compound this Ramadan. Never in recent history have so many Waqf Department employees been expelled from the very site that they are paid to protect and administer.

The targeting of al-Aqsa Mosque guards, who routinely monitor Jewish groups entering the mosque compound, has also become a recurring pattern. “The police arrest every guard who gets near these groups and then ban them from al-Aqsa for several months,” a Waqf Department source, who prefers to remain anonymous, revealed.2

The direct attack against Waqf Department staff members comes at a time when Israeli authorities have implemented a clear overarching policy to reduce the number of worshippers who visit Islam’s third-holiest site—al-Aqsa Mosque. Figures released by the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs show a sharp decline in worshipper turnout this Ramadan compared with previous years (see graphic below).

On the final Friday of Ramadan, attendance stood at approximately 75,000—down from 120,000 in 2024, 130,000 in 2023, and 160,000 in 2022. Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Power), traditionally the most attended night, saw 180,000 visitors this year, compared with 200,000 last year, 280,000 in 2023, and 300,000 in 2022.

The decrease is largely attributed to Israeli-imposed restrictions on Palestinians holding Palestinian Authority ID cards and arriving from areas outside the city limits of Jerusalem (the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). Although misleadingly referred to by Israel as “eased restrictions” that apply on the four Fridays of Ramadan each year, these measures have in fact become more draconian from year to year. For example, a few years ago, at least some Palestinians from Gaza were allowed to enter Jerusalem to pray on such days, and women of all ages from the West Bank were allowed as well as children up to age 16. There was no overall quota for entry. The checkpoints were consequently mobbed on Fridays during Ramadan, and the markets of the Old City enjoyed a rush of activity that brought with it an economic boost. Since the war on Gaza, of course arrival from Gaza is no longer possible, an age limit has been placed on females (only those above age 50), and the age for males is sometimes as high as 60 or 70. The age for children allowed in to pray has been lowered to under 12. Even more significantly, this year Israel unilaterally imposed a quota of a mere 10,000 visitors through all checkpoints combined and forcibly limited the time frame for entry to afternoon hours only, meaning that even those allowed in could not stay for the all-important evening prayers.

This year, eyewitnesses also reported heavy Israeli police presence inside the mosque—a move Waqf Department officials say is unprecedented.

All these measures combined convey to those living outside the city, especially the younger generations, that they should give up hope of even trying to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque.

Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director-general of the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, has repeatedly asked Israeli police to remain outside the mosque gates, but his calls have gone unheeded. This year, more than 15 Palestinian journalists were arrested inside al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and subsequently banned from being there. In another reported incident, guards said that groups of young Jewish men wearing “Temple Mount Guardians” T-shirts accompanied Jewish visitors into the compound under police protection—a move Waqf staff members described as “provocative.”

While some of the major challenges that the Waqf Department has faced over the year have been defending al-Aqsa Mosque from extremist Jewish groups, Christian Zionists have also stepped up their provocations. Waqf officials have cited an increase in public displays against Muslim worshippers by members of the Mormon church who have been pushing their own provocative ideology. Waqf Department officials claimed that groups of Christian Zionist groups, including those affiliated with the Mormon church, went to the Bab al-Rahma cemetery during Ramadan and blew trumpets3 in front of the closed gate and at other locations overlooking the mosque. The Mormon church, whose leaders in the past have contributed $1 million to the Jerusalem Fund, is using the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, an extension of Brigham Young University in Utah that is located on the Mount of Olives, as a base for their actions, Waqf Department officials said.

The increase in the provocation of Christian Zionists has been a recurring worry of Jordanian officials. Jordan is currently the official and internationally recognized custodian of Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian sites, and its role is key in safeguarding these sites. Speaking on Jordan television show “Eye on Jerusalem,” Dr. Wasfi al-Kilani, executive director of the Hashemite Fund for the Reconstruction of al-Aqsa Mosque and a member of the Jerusalem Waqf Council, warned of increasing cooperation between extremist Jewish and Christian Zionist groups. “They share one goal—to Judaize Jerusalem, demolish al-Aqsa, and build the Temple,” he recently said on Jordan TV.4 He emphasized that Christian Zionism does not reflect mainstream Christian beliefs.

Additionally, al-Kilani discussed a recent conference that more than 60 Christian leaders from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East attended; all of them rejected the idea that “Christianity calls for violence or occupation,” al-Kilani said, urging religious leaders to educate their communities on the matter. The conference, “Zionist Christianity and Its Impact on Christians in the Middle East,” was held at Jordan’s Baptism Site under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, senior advisor to His Majesty King Abdullah II for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy to His Majesty. Lutheran pastor Reverend Mitri Raheb also attended the conference and explained that Christian Zionism is not limited to a specific sect, such as evangelicals, or a specific region, such as the US. “The danger lies in the fact that it is supported by many sects and in most countries of the world,” he said.5

Dr. Jack Sara, president of Bethlehem Bible College, which was the first Palestinian Christian institute to publicly criticize Christian Zionism during the college’s “Christ at the Checkpoint” conferences, also told the conferees that it is not easy to be an evangelical Palestinian. “The term evangelical has been distorted by the association of evangelicals with Israeli war criminals,” he told Jerusalem Story.6 He described Christian Zionism as “a heretical replacement theology that replaced Jesus with Israel.” However, he insisted: “I am not ashamed to be a Palestinian, even when I am told to my face that my people are an obstacle to God’s plan and that we should leave our homeland to make room for the Jews.” Despite his frustration, Sara, a pastor at the Christian Alliance Church in the Holy Land, called on the conference attendees to “dialogue, confront, change and bring back the teachings of Jesus Christ about peace, love, and reconciliation.” Sara called for the restoration of the true meaning of the evangelist, which refers to the person who carries the gospel’s good news to the world.

With attempts to turn the political conflict in Jerusalem into a religious one, many Palestinians living in the city are expressing themselves in dangerous existential terms.

Mahmoud Daoud, a Palestinian resident in Jerusalem, shared his frustration after being stopped by police at al-Aqsa Mosque’s entrance. “All these procedures aim to remove us from al-Aqsa and displace us from Jerusalem,” he said.7 “We will not leave, this is our home, we are the original people.”

Before entering the mosque to pray, Daoud added: “We’re tired of useless peace talks and threats of displacement. If death is our fate, let it be here—in Jerusalem and at al-Aqsa.”