8 Attempts to Introduce Offerings.. Tens of Thousands Perform Friday Prayer at Al-Aqsa

SadaNews - Tens of thousands performed the Friday prayer today at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Worshippers have been flocking to Al-Aqsa Mosque since the early morning, despite the strict military measures imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on access to it.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces tightened their grip at the gates of Al-Aqsa, stopped young men for searches, scrutinized their IDs, and prevented some from reaching the mosque to pray.

In a related context, the Jerusalem governorate considered that what is happening at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque recently represents a serious and systematic escalation by extremist settler groups, which are trying to impose new realities inside the mosque's courtyards by introducing what is known as "animal offerings" and intensifying incursions under the guise of religious and political events.

The governorate pointed out that the number of documented attempts to introduce offerings or reach them to the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque has risen to eight since the beginning of the year during the "first and second Passover" seasons, the highest number recorded since 1967, while settlers managed on three occasions to bring offerings near the entrances to Al-Aqsa before they were prevented from completing their attempts.

The Jerusalem governorate noted that 2025 witnessed three attempts to introduce animal offerings to Al-Aqsa Mosque, including two attempts to slaughter the offerings after their introduction, in addition to a third attempt in which blood-stained sacrificial meat was introduced.

The Jerusalem governorate warned of two extremely dangerous events expected to see additional escalation in attempted incursions and rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque in the upcoming period. These are: Friday, 15-5-2026, which coincides with what is known as "Jerusalem Day," marking the completion of the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, considered one of the most dangerous occasions in terms of the volume of incursions and attempts to showcase "sovereignty" inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.

And Friday, 22-5-2026, which coincides with what is known as the "Feast of Weeks" in the Torah, preceded by an expected compensatory incursion on Thursday, 21-5, occasions that are usually exploited to intensify incursions and attempts to introduce plant and animal offerings to the mosque.

The Jerusalem governorate called for a continuous pilgrimage to Al-Aqsa Mosque as it is the first line of defense against these attempts and to bolster the resilience of Jerusalemites inside it in light of this accelerating escalation.

It emphasized the need to keep the issue of Al-Aqsa Mosque at the forefront of local and international media attention, and not to allow the marginalization of what is happening there, especially amid the world's preoccupation with various issues, which is what settler groups are trying to exploit to pass more violations without sufficient coverage or follow-up.