Aqsa compound under threat as Israeli nationalists flout rules

Key Points:

• Israeli nationalists, including politician Moshe Feiglin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, are openly challenging the longstanding Status Quo at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound by praying and singing there, actions prohibited under current agreements.
• The Status Quo grants custodianship of the al-Aqsa compound to the Jordanian-administered Islamic Waqf, allowing non-Muslim visits but forbidding non-Muslim prayer; this arrangement aims to maintain peace at this highly sensitive religious site.
• Reports of Israeli and US officials potentially working to convert the site into a "multi-faith centre" and allowing large-scale Jewish prayer have sparked regional and international concern, though Israeli authorities deny any change to the Status Quo.
• Experts and regional actors warn that altering the Status Quo could trigger significant tensions or violence, recalling the 2000 visit by Ariel Sharon to the site that ignited the second Palestinian intifada, resulting in thousands of deaths.
• Jordan, Gulf countries, Egypt, and the UK have expressed alarm over perceived erosion of Islamic authority at al-Aqsa, emphasizing the need to respect historic arrangements to preserve regional stability.