“I just stood for a moment to catch my breath and see the source of the loud noises coming from the eastern side of the mosque near Bab al-Rahma,” says Montaser Abdul Rahman, a 72-year-old Palestinian who had entered al-Haram al-Sharif using the Lions’ Gate entrance.1 He explains that he was looking to see “what the extremist Jews were doing” on the sacred grounds when he was confronted by Israeli forces who quickly approached him and said: “Hajj, leave. If you do not go now immediately, we will arrest you.”

Abdul Rahman shares that he replied, “What did I do in al-Aqsa? I stood to catch my breath and watch what those who violated the sanctity of the holy place were doing. They were singing and dancing in the mosque area.”

One of the police officers, an Arab from the north of Israel who is known to Palestinian Waqf Department authorities in Jerusalem, replied: “This is not your job, and it is forbidden to stand here. Go, or we will prevent you from entering al-Aqsa.” At that point, Abdul Rahman felt that “The eastern part of al-Aqsa was no longer part of the Islamic holy place,” he told Jerusalem Story.

Abdul Rahman was referring to the area extending from Bab al-Rahma to the Marwani Mosque, where the Israeli police have begun to prevent Muslim worshippers from approaching. Waqf officials told Jerusalem Story that Israeli security forces even prevented guards from the Waqf and al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department from doing their jobs at the site. This department, also known as the Jerusalem Waqf, the Waqf Department, or just the Waqf, is a Jordanian-appointed body responsible for managing matters related to the Haram al-Sharif, as per a long-standing agreement between Jordan and Israel.

The Jerusalem Waqf is a department within the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places. The staff members are Jordanian government employees.

Abdul Rahman is one of a diminishing number of Palestinians whom the Israeli police allow to enter the Haram for prayer. Many Palestinian Jerusalemites, especially young people, have forgotten what the holy place looks like, as Israeli police regularly prevent them from even approaching the gates that lead to the mosque, especially on Fridays. This exclusionary policy has been on the rise since the extreme right-wing Jewish settler Itamar Ben-Gvir became Israeli Minister of National Security in 2022,2 and intensified after October 7, 2023.

Since October 2023, Israel has accelerated policies that indicate its intention to Judaize the Haram.

As soon as Israel declared its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the three checkpoints through which millions of Palestinians holding Palestinian Authority ID cards access Jerusalem were closed for weeks. When they reopened, hours were often limited and the permits that allowed them to pass the checkpoints were not being granted. Therefore, most of these people, including those wishing to pray at their holy site, could not. This situation was relaxed somewhat during the holy month of Ramadan, but even those who made it through then confronted other restrictions. And even prior to the war, in Ramadan 2023, the number of Muslims allowed to pass checkpoints to pray was relatively small.

Israel also set strict age limits on who could enter al-Aqsa Mosque to pray during the war, especially on Fridays. For example, at some points, only men over 70 were allowed in. Although this has been done in the past, the age limits after October 7, 2023, reduced the number of Friday worshippers to less than 5,000, down from 60,000.3

Most recently, Israeli forces have been prohibiting Muslims from entering the mosque from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. During this period, Jews are allowed to freely wander around al-Aqsa amid tight protection from Israeli police.

According to Waqf Department authorities, the Israeli Department of Antiquities has recently intensified its interference in the work of the Waqf Department related to the restoration and preservation of al-Aqsa, including inside the mosque itself. Under the pretext that it wants to inspect that no work is being carried out in the eastern section of the compound, the Israeli Department of Antiquities, through the police, ordered the Waqf Department not to carry out any restoration work.

In tandem with exclusion of Muslims, police are allowing more and more Jews to access the site and even pray there. Even as far back as 2017, the Jerusalem-focused nonprofit Ir Amim warned that the Israeli police, who are supposed to prevent non-Muslim worship at the site, had shifted and begun working in “close coordination” with Jewish “temple activists” and disregarding Jewish worship that takes place, marking a “radical shift” in their relationship, characterized by public demonstrations of closeness and support between the police and the extremist activists. Ir Amim noted that a key strategy was “increasing the number of Jews visiting the Temple Mount as a lever for changing the status quo.” Accordingly in 2017, they reported a “sharp increase” of 60 percent in such visits.4

During 2024, according to Waqf Department records, more than 50,000 extremist Jews stormed the Haram, a figure yet again considerably higher than previous years.

The escalation has been made known to Jordanian officials on numerous occasions as part of the regular Waqf Department reports. The complaints submitted by Palestinian guards at the Haram clearly indicate that extremist Jews, protected by Israeli police, are increasingly spending time around Bab al-Rahma, and that confrontations between Israeli forces and Muslim worshippers at the prayer hall have been ongoing.

“They are quietly creeping toward Bab al-Rahma to occupy it and build a synagogue there; this is what we see before our eyes every day. These extremists roam freely, making movements and pointing to Bab al-Rahma,”5 one of the guards, who asked not to be named for fear of being pursued by Israeli authorities, told Jerusalem Story. He added that Israeli police have stationed a round-the-clock guard and surveillance point above Bab al-Rahma, and that Palestinians who approach the gate may be immediately arrested.

During the Jewish High Holidays between October 2 and 24, 2024, thousands of Jewish extremists swarmed the area around Bab al-Rahma, moving about with complete freedom under police protection. According to Waqf Department reports, on October 24 alone, “more than 1,783 extremist Jews stormed al-Aqsa Mosque and held a large group prayer near Bab al-Rahma for the first time in history.”6

While the Jordanian-run Waqf Department, which manages the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-protected Heritage Site, allows non-Muslims to visit al-Haram al-Sharif, extremist Jews, including Ben-Gvir, have gone beyond visitation to the point of holding public prayers in it. This is in direct violation of the long-standing agreement between Jordan and Israel that Jews and Christians may visit the site but not pray there. It is also a breach of the historic Status Quo.

A senior Waqf Department official, who requested not to be named, told Jerusalem Story that an incident such as the recent violation of the Haram by Israeli forces has not happened since Israel occupied the city in 1967. “They are trying with all their might to isolate the eastern side of al-Aqsa, as if it were a Jewish synagogue,” he explained.7 “Muslim worshippers or even the staff of the Waqf Department are forbidden to approach. This is a clear interference in our work managing this holy site, and this is also a violation of the agreements, especially the Wadi Araba Agreement signed between Israel and Jordan, which states clearly that Jordan is the custodian of the Christian and Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.”

Indeed, in March 2019, Asaf Fried, a spokesperson for an association of organizations dedicated to Jewish rights in al-Haram al-Sharif (which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount), told the Jerusalem Post: “We need a place to pray and we want that structure near the Golden Gate [i.e., Bab al-Rahma].” The group, which has plans for up to four synagogues to be established on the site, wants to see al-Haram al-Sharif “divided like the way that the Cave of the Patriarchs [in Hebron’s Old City] was divided into a synagogue and a mosque in 1967.”8 This division later led to unrest and bloodshed, including a major massacre of 29 Palestinians by a settler in 1994. Today, only Jews and tourists are allowed in the area set aside for a synagogue there.9

Years earlier, in January 2001, the Chief Rabbis’ Council proposed establishing a synagogue inside the Haram; among the proposed places for the synagogue was Bab al-Rahma.10

In June 2023, Israeli MK Amit Halevi (Likud) proposed dividing the Haram by giving 70 percent of its northern end to Jews, including the area where the Dome of the Rock is located, leaving only 30 percent of the southern end of the complex for Muslims.11

The situation has become so critical that Palestinian Waqf Department officials in Jerusalem are asking the international community to intervene before it is too late. In private and public meetings, Palestinian officials are warning that there is a real “danger” to this holy site and that “an explosion is only a matter of time” if Israel does not stop its efforts to Judaize al-Aqsa.

Bab al-Rahma (the Gate of Mercy), also known as Bab al-Dhahabi (the Golden Gate), is one of the seven ancient gates to Jerusalem’s Old City. It consists of two entrances, both sealed, a southern one called Bab al-Rahma and a northern one called Bab al-Tawba (the Gate of Repentance).12

Situated on the eastern side of al-Haram al-Sharif, in the northern third of its eastern wall, Bab al-Rahma dates from the sixth century and is the most significant gate of the Haram.13 The most beautiful of the gates to the Old City, it leads directly from the eastern side of the city into the Haram. In fact, it is the only gate to al-Aqsa Mosque which is also part of the ancient walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. Outside the eastern wall lies the expansive Bab al-Rahma cemetery, Jerusalem’s oldest Muslim cemetery, named after the gate, which used to provide a passageway between the mosque and the cemetery.

The gate, whose date of establishment is disputed, has been walled up several times throughout its long history: first in 810, then in 1187 by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, and again in 1541 by Suleiman the Magnificent. Because of its symbolic importance, it has remained walled up ever since.14

Bab al-Rahma includes a prayer hall of more than 200 square meters with huge historic columns. The prayer hall can be reached through a long staircase inside al-Aqsa Mosque. Outside the gate, there is a standalone gatehouse with a large hall, a small mosque, and a madrasa. Israeli authorities closed the gatehouse in 2003 and banned the Islamic Waqf Heritage Committee, which would use it, from operating there.

Many Muslims and Christians believe that Bab al-Rahma is the last gate that Jesus used to enter Jerusalem en route to his crucifixion, and some Jews also believe that it is the gate through which the Messiah will one day enter Jerusalem.

The issues surrounding Bab al-Rahma escalated after the newly formed Jerusalem Waqf Council reopened the prayer hall at the location on February 14, 2019, following 16 years of closure by Israel. In 2003, amid the Second Intifada, Israeli forces closed the prayer hall under the pretext that it was being used as an office by Sheikh Raed Salah, the former mayor of Umm al-Fahm and leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

The Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf appointed new members with political backgrounds from various segments of Palestinian society to the council, increasing the number of members from 11 to 18. In February 2019, Waqf Council members entered the ancient building, which had been deserted for many years, and Waqf Department employees laid carpets on the dusty ground for them to perform the noon prayer.

Israeli police stood by, shocked by what they were witnessing, and as soon as the council members finished praying, the soldiers photographed each person as they were leaving the prayer hall, which sparked tensions.

Mahdi Abdul Hadi, founder of PASSIA and a newly appointed Waqf Council member at the time, told albawaba, “Everyone participated and every party should get credit for this success. Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa unite us.”15

Some days later, the Jordanian Minister of Awqaf officially reopened the prayer hall and hundreds of Palestinians prayed there.16 Israeli forces responded by closing the mosque and arresting anyone who approached it. Confrontations and protests followed, and Israeli police summoned the Waqf Department director, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, for questioning, and arrested Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab, the head of the Waqf Council.

Tensions continued to escalate, especially when Israeli forces entered the prayer hall days later with their shoes—which is extremely disrespectful in Islam—beat the worshippers who were inside, and issued orders to expel hundreds from the Haram. For some time after this incident, Israeli forces prevented Palestinians from walking or standing near the prayer hall, and even placed locks on its doors, though worshippers broke them and entered. Anyone who stood in front of the prayer hall was arrested. Palestinians also organized themselves to maintain a continuous presence within the prayer hall to ensure that it remained open and a place of worship for Muslims.

The hall remained open until Israeli forces raided it on the night of September 7, 2023, searching worshippers and causing extensive damage.17 An Israeli court ordered its closure under the pretext that one of the charitable institutions, the Islamic Heritage Committee of al-Aqsa Mosque, had broken the law by using the prayer hall as an office. The Waqf Council did not challenge the decision in Israeli courts through the Jordanian foreign ministry or embassy in Tel Aviv.

In April 2024, the Islamic-Christian Committee in Support of Jerusalem and Its Sanctuaries warned that Israel was working toward Judaizing al-Haram al-Sharif and accordingly, “separating Bab Al-Rahma Mosque from the whole area of Al-Aqsa Mosque and turning it into a Jewish synagogue is part of the plan.”18

Throughout history, Bab al-Rahma and its prayer hall have been renowned among Jerusalemites, and especially among Muslims. For centuries, it served as a retreat for prayer, remembrance, and lessons of religious knowledge for Muslim scholars. During his journey to Jerusalem in AH 438 (1047 CE), the famous Tajik traveler and writer Nasir Khusraw said of Bab al-Rahma: “On this [eastern] corridor is a beautiful mosque that was once a vestibule, and they turned it into a mosque, and decorated it with various types of carpets. It has dedicated servants, and many people go to it and pray in it and supplicate to God Almighty.”19

During the Waqf Council members’ historic visit in 2019, one of the members said: “As children, we were afraid to approach the dome atop the prayer hall, because we were told that King Solomon (who is revered in Islam) had made the location a prison for the Devil, but we later learned that there are rooms above the dome where the famous Islamic theologian Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali secluded himself in the 12th century and wrote one of the most important Islamic books, Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din.”20 This work, called The Revival of Religious Sciences in English, includes a section on the Knowledge of God called the Jerusalem Treatise.21

The significance of the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall has withstood the test of time, but with increasing Israeli encroachments on the site, Jerusalem’s Palestinians fear the worst.