Record animal sacrifice attempts at Al-Aqsa prompt status quo fears

Record attempts by Israeli settlers to smuggle sacrifices into Al-Aqsa Mosque mark unprecedented escalation since 1967.

Israeli settlers have made seven attempts to smuggle animal sacrifices into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during this year’s Jewish Passover festival, the highest number of such incidents documented since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967.

The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate said on Sunday the provocations took place while Israeli authorities kept the 144-dunum (36-acre) compound, along with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, sealed off for 40 consecutive days.

However, Al-Aqsa Mosque reopened early on Thursday morning, as worshippers flocked to the Jerusalem holy site after authorities lifted the weeks-long restrictions. Israeli forces had cited a “state of emergency” and “security” measures linked to the US-Israel war on Iran for the prolonged shutdown.

Capitalising on weeks of empty courtyards, far-right “Temple Mount groups” – which use the Jewish name for Al-Aqsa – launched a concerted push to perform biblical animal sacrifices inside the Muslim holy site. The governorate documented that settlers successfully reached the borders of the Old City with their sacrifices – typically a goat or a sheep – on at least two occasions before being stopped.

According to Israeli media, police previously detained at least 14 Jewish worshippers on April 1 for attempting to reach the site to perform the ritual.