Al-Aqsa Is Facing Pressure From More Than One Direction
Aouni Bazbaz, Director of International Affairs at the Islamic Waqf, put it plainly when he spoke to Middle East Eye earlier this year. “This has fuelled fears that what is presented as a temporary measure could gradually become a permanent or semi-permanent arrangement, particularly if people become accustomed to the restrictions or if patterns of access to the site are altered.”
He was talking about closures. But he could have been describing everything that has happened since.
Al-Aqsa is not facing one isolated incident. It is facing overlapping pressure from inside the compound, from below the ground, from political plans around custodianship, and from religious movements that openly dream of replacing the mosque with a Third Temple. Taken separately, each development is serious. Taken together, they point to something larger: the plan to end Al-Aqsa has not just begun. It is already running on multiple tracks simultaneously.
The Closure That Should Not Have Happened
Before the seized offices and the diplomatic plans, there was Ramadan.
Al-Aqsa was closed to Muslim worshippers for the entire month of Ramadan 2026. It was the first such closure since Isr*el occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. Palestinian worshippers prayed outside the compound walls.
Isr*eli authorities cited the security situation stemming from the Iran war. Critics called it what they said it was: an exploitation of regional tension to impose a restriction that had no precedent in almost 60 years.
Four Waqf-Linked Sites Are Now Under Pressure
The Al-Quds International Foundation says Isr*eli police are working to seize four strategic Al-Aqsa landmarks: the Dome of Musa, Dome of Sulayman, Dar al-Hadith al-Sharif and the Dome of Imam al-Ghazali. These are Waqf-linked facilities located across the four corners of the compound.
According to reports, Isr*eli police have used security pretexts to empty facilities, break locks, prevent replacement locks and restrict access. The pattern mirrors what happened to the Bab al-Rahma Musalla between 2003 and 2019, before a seizure attempt was made there.
The fear is not only that offices are being emptied. It is that Al-Aqsa’s Islamic administration is being weakened from inside the compound itself. If the Waqf is blocked from offices, repairs, staffing and daily management, its authority can be hollowed out without a single formal announcement declaring that the status quo has changed.
That process was accelerated on June 1, 2026, when Isr*el revoked entry permits for 30 senior Waqf employees, including the senior treasurer. Ekrima Sabri, imam of Al-Aqsa and head of the Higher Islamic Council, described it as part of “unprecedented actions” aimed at imposing Isr*eli “domination” over the site.
The Tunnels Beneath The Mosque
While the pressure is visible above ground, what is happening below it may be the most alarming development of all.
According to the Al-Quds International Foundation, at least 64 excavations and tunnels are currently being carried out beneath and around Al-Aqsa Mosque. The foundation has warned of “dangerous repercussions for the stability of the foundations of the Noble Sanctuary.”
Reporting by The New Arab, corroborated by the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate, revealed that Isr*el has been secretly digging a tunnel approximately 550 metres long, running from Al-Buraq Square in the west toward the northwestern wall of Al-Aqsa. The excavations are carried out under tight security measures that prevent local Palestinians from knowing the details. Access to the sites is restricted exclusively to employees of the Isr*eli Ministry of Antiquities.
The Jerusalem Governorate adviser Marouf Al-Rifai warned that the tunnels connect what Isr*el calls the “City of David” to Al-Aqsa’s foundations, passing through passages built in the form of stone walls. Many of these were originally historic waterways used by the mosque, which have been drained, expanded and converted into tunnels, museums and synagogues. One, known as the “Jabbana Market,” has already been turned into a Jewish tourist trail.
The structural consequences are already visible. Buildings above the excavations in the Bab al-Silsila and Bab al-Magharba areas have cracked or partially collapsed. The 550-metre tunnel passes through Islamic, Canaanite and Roman archaeological sites, threatening irreplaceable historical structures. Researchers say the tunnel network affects the foundations of at least 16 Islamic monuments along its route.
In September 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the inaugural ceremony of a newly excavated tunnel in the City of David, a settler-run tourist site in East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood, in a move observers described as explicit American endorsement of the project.
Palestinian and Islamic authorities say the goal is not archaeological discovery. It is the creation of a structural link between settler sites below and Al-Aqsa above, paving the way for the mosque’s eventual displacement.
Jordan’s Custodianship Is Also Under Political Pressure
The pressure is not only physical. It is also political.
Middle East Eye reported on May 25, 2026, citing US, Jordanian, Palestinian, Western and Gulf Arab sources, that the US and Isr*el are discussing a plan to replace the Waqf, end Jordan’s historic custodianship and rebrand Al-Aqsa as a “multi-faith centre.” The reported plan has been linked to Jared Kushner and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
Two US officials confirmed to Middle East Eye that Washington had already drafted a paper outlining its vision for Al-Aqsa’s future. Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and UAE had already been briefed on the proposal.
Under the reported arrangement, Jews would be granted equal access to the site, permitted to conduct large-group prayer, and Isr*el would gain a say in appointing imams, preachers and senior mosque officials, including approval of sermon content.
For Palestinians, Jordanians and Muslims globally, Jordan’s custodianship is not a small diplomatic detail. It is one of the main barriers preventing Isr*eli authorities and Temple movements from transforming Al-Aqsa’s identity and management. If the Waqf is weakened on the ground and Jordan is stripped politically, the status quo could be dismantled through paperwork as much as through police force.
Why The New Red Heifer Matters
Then comes the religious front.
On June 14, 2026, the Temple Institute announced the birth of a red heifer calf named Tamima at a dairy farm in the Galilee Mountains, produced through artificial insemination. Temple groups describe it as a possible breakthrough in rituals they believe are required before future Temple service can begin. According to their interpretation, the ashes of a qualified red heifer are needed for purification, a ritual absent since the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
What makes this moment different from previous red heifer announcements is where the calf was born. Earlier candidates, five imported from Texas in 2022, faced rabbinic objections because they were not born within historic Palestine. This one was. Temple groups now present the Galilee-born calf as having removed that theological obstacle.
This is not fringe theology with no consequences. Hamas cited those Texas heifers as one of its stated reasons for October 7. Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida, speaking on the 100th day of the war, listed “the bringing of red cows” among the stated motives for the attack the group called the Al-Aqsa Flood. A senior Palestinian source told Middle East Eye that the trigger was specifically Hamas’s fear that far-right groups intended to sacrifice an animal at Al-Aqsa, paving the way for the demolition of the Dome of the Rock and the building of the Third Temple.
The Galilee heifer does not make that outcome inevitable. But it removes one of the main theological objections that had slowed the project.
The Flag March Showed The Street Pressure
This is also happening alongside rising pressure from Isr*el’s far right.
During the Jerusalem Day Flag March in May 2026, ministers, MPs and extremists entered the compound as calls to replace Al-Aqsa with a Jewish temple grew louder. Isr*eli lawmaker Yitzhak Kroizer, standing beside far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, declared it was time to demolish the site and build a Jewish temple in its place.
Ben-Gvir, who reacted to the deaths of four Isr*eli soldiers in Lebanon this week by saying “all of Lebanon must burn,” is the same minister who has repeatedly led incursions into Al-Aqsa and pushed for expanded Jewish access to the compound. The same government running the Flag March is overseeing the tunnels beneath the mosque.
The Fear Is That The Status Quo Is Being Dismantled
Above ground: Waqf offices are being seized and staff permits revoked.
Below ground: 64 excavations are weakening the mosque’s foundations, with tunnels being built to create direct access from settler sites.
Politically: Jordan’s custodianship is reportedly under threat, with a US-drafted paper and Gulf states already briefed.
Religiously: Temple groups are celebrating a red heifer born on Isr*eli soil, presenting it as a theological breakthrough tied to their Third Temple project.
And underneath all of it: the mosque was already closed to Muslims for an entire month of Ramadan, in a precedent that had not existed since 1967.
Taken together, they point to one conclusion: the plan to end Al-Aqsa has not been announced. It does not need to be. It is already running.
By Verity Quill
Sources
Middle East Eye | Isr*el emptying Al-Aqsa Waqf facilities | June 2026
Middle East Eye | US-Isr*el plan to strip Jordan of Al-Aqsa custodianship | May 25, 2026
Middle East Eye | Isr*el revokes permits for 30 Waqf staff | May 2026
Middle East Eye | Al-Aqsa closed through Ramadan and Eid | March 2026
The New Arab | Israel escalates tunnelling under Al-Aqsa | August 2025
The New Arab | Israel destroying Umayyad sites under Al-Aqsa | September 2025
WAFA | Jerusalem Governorate warns of Al-Aqsa collapse risk | October 22, 2025
Jerusalem Story | US backs settler-led tunnel project | October 2025
Palestinian Information Center | Temple Institute red heifer Galilee | June 15, 2026
CBS News | Hamas red heifer October 7 stated motive
Middle East Eye | Flag March Al-Aqsa incursions May 2026
Al-Quds International Foundation | June 9, 2026
