Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Thursday, 24 September 2026, as Israeli forces carried out demolitions, arrests and land-levelling operations in various parts of the West Bank, while settlers launched attacks and a tender was announced for the construction of 400 new settlement units east of Qalqilya.
Al-Aqsa incursions and tightened measures around Jerusalem
The extremist Jewish rabbi Yehuda Glick posted a video showing him inside Al-Aqsa Mosque opposite the Dome of the Rock prayer hall. Glick was also seen walking around the Dome of the Rock courtyard and performing Jewish prayers, as settlers carried out incursions into the mosque. Around Jerusalem, the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces had tightened military measures at checkpoints surrounding the city, particularly the Jaba, Anata and Qalandia checkpoints.
It added that the measures had caused severe congestion and traffic disruption, hindering the movement of Palestinians in the area. In the village of Beit Imrin, north-west of Nablus, Israeli forces blew up the home of prisoner Dawas Hassoun, who has been detained since March 2026, causing material damage to the building and neighbouring property.
The Israeli army said in a statement that it had demolished the home of a Palestinian whom it said had carried out an attack that killed one Israeli and wounded another, and published footage it said documented the demolition. In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces levelled trees and stone terraces on farmland in the village of Homsah, west of Hebron. This was part of separate operations targeting Palestinian land and structures in several areas.
Arrests and raids in West Bank governorates
Regarding arrests, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Israeli army had arrested dozens of Palestinians from the governorates of Tubas, Nablus, Tulkarm and Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, as well as Bethlehem Governorate in the south. The agency said Israeli forces had continued since Wednesday evening to raid the city of Qalqilya, carrying out house searches and arresting dozens of Palestinians while firing stun grenades, tear gas and live ammunition.
It said the operations had resulted in two injuries on Wednesday evening. In the town of Azzun, around 15 military vehicles, accompanied by more than 30 soldiers, entered the town through its main northern entrance before the forces raided a number of homes, according to the Palestinian agency.
Settler attacks and a new outpost near Nablus
In another settlement-related development, the Al-Baidar rights organisation said in a statement that settlers had established a new settlement outpost in the Al-Dhahr area east of the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus. The organisation warned of the outpost’s impact on agricultural and grazing land and its implications for Palestinians’ ability to access their land and continue their agricultural activities.
In the village of Atara, north of Ramallah, settlers burned two vehicles and scrawled hostile slogans on a number of properties during an attack on the village. The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, meanwhile, said the Israeli authorities had issued a new tender for the construction of 400 units in the Karnei Shomron settlement, built on Palestinian land east of Qalqilya.
Settlement tender and orders to remove trees
The commission said issuing the tender meant moving in practice from the planning stage to marketing and implementation, amid an acceleration of settlement measures in the West Bank during 2026. It added that the Israeli army had issued a military order targeting approximately 94 dunams of land belonging to the village of Deir Nidham, north-west of Ramallah, noting that a dunam is equivalent to 1,000 square metres.
According to the commission, the order requires the removal of wild plants and the uprooting of olive trees in the targeted area, giving landowners 12 hours from the inspection visit to carry out the removal work.
The commission said the order brought to five the number of military orders issued on Wednesday, targeting the removal of trees and vegetation from an estimated total area of approximately 533 dunams in the Jenin and Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorates.
According to the commission, this brought the total number of military orders issued by the Israeli authorities during 2026 to 53.
