A Jerusalem-focused Palestinian monitoring organization has sounded the alarm over Israel’s forced takeover of four key facilities within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, framing the move as part of a widening campaign to undermine the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf that administers the holy site. In a public statement released Tuesday, the Al-Quds International Institution detailed that Israeli authorities have targeted the sites under what the group calls fabricated security justifications. Over the past several months, Israeli forces have raided each location, broken off original door locks, and blocked attempts by Waqf staff to install new locks, leaving the premises unsecured. Any individual attempting to access the facilities has been forcibly removed, with Israeli officials claiming the spaces were previously used for activities that pose a risk to public security. The four seized facilities are strategically positioned at each of the four corners of the sprawling 144,000-square-meter Al-Aqsa compound, a detail the Al-Quds International Institution says confirms the action was premeditated rather than accidental. The sites are: the Dome of Imam al-Ghazali, situated above the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall along the complex’s eastern wall; Dar al-Hadith al-Sharif, located in the compound’s northeastern quadrant; Qubbat Sulayman, an open-air domed shrine opposite King Faisal Gate; and Qubbat Musa, which stands near Bab al-Silsila, also known as the Chain Gate. The monitoring group warns that clearing the Waqf out of these sites could open the door for Israeli law enforcement to expand their control over all landmarks and facilities across Al-Aqsa, ultimately allowing Israel to establish itself as the de facto governing body at the site in place of the Waqf. Al-Aqsa Mosque, which ranks among the holiest sites in global Islam, is located in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem. Its walled compound hosts dozens of religious sites, including shrines, prayer halls, religious schools, and open courtyards. For decades, an internationally recognized status quo agreement has held that the Al-Aqsa complex is to be exclusively administered and maintained by Muslim religious institutions. Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, this administrative responsibility has been held by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, a body appointed by the Jordanian government. In recent years, however, the Waqf has faced growing pressure from Israeli measures designed to limit its authority and expand Israeli control over the site. Waqf officials have repeatedly reported to regional outlet Middle East Eye that Israeli restrictions have made it far more difficult for staff to enter the compound and complete routine maintenance and repair work. The Al-Quds International Institution emphasized that the latest seizure of the four facilities must be understood as part of a longer pattern of Israeli actions at Al-Aqsa, warning the move is a gradual step toward taking over the sites entirely and shutting down Waqf operations within the compound. “The consequences of these measures extend far beyond their already dangerous immediate effects,” the organization said in its statement. The group has called on Jordan to develop a comprehensive, serious strategy to defend Al-Aqsa and halt the erosion of its long-standing custodial role, noting that formal statements of condemnation alone are not enough to reverse the current trend. It also urged all Arab and Muslim-majority nations to acknowledge what it describes as an existential threat to Al-Aqsa Mosque and take on greater collective responsibility for protecting the site. The announcement comes just one month after Middle East Eye (MEE) published an exclusive report revealing that the United States and Israel have been quietly working to strip Jordan of its historic custodianship over Al-Aqsa. Multiple unnamed sources told MEE that the two countries are pushing for a new management arrangement that would align control of the revered Muslim site more closely with Israeli policy goals, effectively sidelining the Waqf from its core administrative duties. The United States has publicly denied the existence of such a plan.