Al-Aqsa clashes

The 1990 Temple Mount killings, or the Al Aqsa Massacre, also known as Black Monday, took place at the Temple Mount, Jerusalem at 10:30 am on Monday, 8 October 1990 before Zuhr prayer during the third year of the First Intifada. Following a decision by the Temple Mount Faithful to lay the cornerstone for the Temple, mass riots erupted, In the ensuing clashes, 17 Palestinians died, more than 150 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli security forces, and more than 20 Israeli civilians and police were wounded by Palestinians. United Nations Security Council Resolution 672, which was rejected by Israel, "condemned especially the acts of violence committed by the Israeli security forces" and United Nations Security Council Resolution 673 urged that Israel reconsider its refusal to allow United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar to carry out an investigation.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, properly Jāmiʿ al-Aqṣā (Arabic: جامع الأقصى, lit. 'congregational mosque of Al-Aqsa [compound]'), also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel (Arabic: المصلى القبلي, romanized: al-muṣallā al-qiblī, lit. 'prayer hall of the qibla (south)'), is a congregational mosque or prayer hall in the Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also named al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, but this name and its English translation "Al Aqsa Mosque" itself, is disputed as it can instead apply to the whole compound in which the building sits. The wider compound is also known as the Haram al-Sharif, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (or simply Al-Aqsa), and the Temple Mount.During the rule of the Rashidun caliph Umar (r. 634–644) or the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), a small prayer house on the compound was erected near the mosque's site. The present-day mosque, located on the south wall of the compound, was originally built by the fifth Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705) or his successor al-Walid I (r. 705–715) (or both) as a congregational mosque on the same axis as the Dome of the Rock, a commemorative Islamic monument. After being destroyed in an earthquake in 746, the mosque was rebuilt in 758 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur. It was further expanded upon in 780 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, after which it consisted of fifteen aisles and a central dome. However, it was again destroyed during the 1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake. The mosque was rebuilt by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir, who reduced it to seven aisles but adorned its interior with an elaborate central archway covered in vegetal mosaics; the current structure preserves the 11th-century outline. During the periodic renovations undertaken, the ruling Islamic dynasties constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, façade, minarets, and minbar and interior structure. Upon its capture by the Crusaders in 1099, the mosque was used as a palace; it was also the headquarters of the religious order of the Knights Templar. After the area was conquered by Saladin in 1187, the structure's function as a mosque was restored. More renovations, repairs, and expansion projects were undertaken in later centuries by the Ayyubid Sultanate, the Mamluk Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire, the Supreme Muslim Council of British Palestine, and during the Jordanian occupation of the West Bank. Since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the mosque has remained under the independent administration of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf.Al-Aqsa Mosque is located in close proximity to various historical and holy sites in Judaism and Christianity, most notably that of the Temple in Jerusalem. The entire area has consequently held high geopolitical significance, and has been a primary flashpoint in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

On 15 April 2022, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli Security Forces on the Al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, the clashes began when Palestinians threw stones, firecrackers, and other heavy objects at Israeli police officers. The policemen used tear gas shells, stun grenades and police batons against the Palestinians. Some Palestinians afterwards barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and proceeded to throw stones at the officers. In response, police raided the mosque, arresting those who had barricaded themselves inside. In addition, some damage was done to the mosque's structure.Over the course of the clashes, around 160 Palestinians were injured, including a waqf guard shot in the eye with a rubber bullet, 4 women, 27 children, and one journalist. Approximately 400 people were arrested; the majority of them were released later that day. Three Israeli police officers were also wounded. Concerns were raised about possible excessive use of force by Israeli forces.The break-in into the mosque caused a stir among the Palestinian public, and many reactions among the international community. The clashes were reported in the Arabic-speaking media as a storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Israeli authorities and media often use the term riots to refer to these events.Additional skirmishes, though more restricted, occurred in the days that followed at the Holy Sites and in and around the Old City.

The Al-Aqsa mosque fire was an arson attack on Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, the primary prayer hall within the Al-Aqsa compound, on 21 August 1969. The attack was carried out by Australian citizen Denis Michael Rohan, who initially set fire to the pulpit. The event has been described as "an act which plunged the Middle East into its worst crisis since the June, 1967, Arab-Israel war", and was a key catalyst for the creation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The 12th-century minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque was destroyed in the fire. Initially, Israelis blamed the fire either on an accident related to ongoing renovations, or to a false flag attack by Palestinian group Fatah.

The Dome of Yusuf Agha (Arabic: قبة يوسف أغا Qubbat Yūsuf Agha) is a small square building with a dome in the al-Aqsa Compound (al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf), in the courtyard between the Islamic Museum and al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli).

The al-Aqsa Library (مكتبة الأقصى Maktabat al-ʾAqṣā), also known as the al-Aqsa Mosque Library (مكتبة المسجد الأقصى Maktabat al-Masjid al-ʾAqṣā), is the assemblage of books in the al-Aqsa Compound (al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf).

The Southern Wall (Hebrew: הכותל הדרומי HaKotel HaDromi) is the retaining wall of the Temple Mount at the southern end. It was built during King Herod's expansion of the Temple Mount platform southward on to the Ophel.

The Islamic Museum (Arabic: متحف الآثار الإسلامية; Hebrew: מוזיאון האסלאם) is a museum at Al Aqsa in the Old City section of Jerusalem. On display are exhibits from ten periods of Islamic history encompassing several Muslim regions. The museum is west of al-Aqsa Mosque, across a courtyard.

The al-Buraq Mosque (Arabic: مَسْجِدُ ٱلْبُرَاق, romanized: Masjid al-Burāq) is a subterranean musalla next to the Buraq Wall (Western Wall), near the southwest corner of the Masjid al-Aqsa compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. This mosque is called al-Buraq Mosque because of a ring that is nailed to its wall where Muslims believe Muhammad tied the Buraq that carried him from the al-Haram Mosque to the al-Aqsa Mosque during the Night Journey.

The Huldah Gates (Hebrew: שערי חולדה, Sha'arei Hulda) were one of the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem leading into the Jerusalem Temple compound in the Hasmonean period and were named as such in the Mishnah. The term is currently being used for the remains of two later sets of gates, the Triple Gate and the Double Gate, known together as the Huldah Gates, built as part of the much extended Herodian Temple Mount, situated in Jerusalem's Old City. Both sets of gates were set into the Southern Wall of the Temple compound and gave access to the Temple Mount esplanade by means of underground vaulted ramps. Both were walled up in the Middle Ages.The western set is a double-arched gate (the Double Gate), and the eastern is a triple-arched gate (the Triple Gate). There still are a few Herodian architectural elements visible outside and inside the gates, while most everything else of what we see today is later, Muslim-period work.

The Western Wall (Hebrew: הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, romanized: HaKotel HaMa'aravi, lit. 'the western wall', often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ٱلْبُرَاق, Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq Arabic pronunciation: ['ħaːʔɪtˤ albʊ'raːq]), is a portion of ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem that forms part of the larger retaining wall of the hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount. Just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period, and is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great. The very large stone blocks of the lower courses are Herodian, the courses of medium-sized stones above them were added during the Umayyad period, while the small stones of the uppermost courses are of more recent date, especially from the Ottoman period. The Western Wall plays an important role in Judaism due to its proximity to the Temple Mount. Because of the Temple Mount entry restrictions, the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray outside the previous Temple Mount platform, as the presumed site of the Holy of Holies, the most sacred site in the Jewish faith, lies just behind it. The original, natural, and irregular-shaped Temple Mount was gradually extended to allow for an ever-larger Temple compound to be built at its top. The earliest source mentioning this specific site as a place of Jewish worship is from the 17th century. It also has a place in Muslim tradition, in which it is believed to be the site where the Islamic Prophet Muhammad tied his winged steed, al-Buraq, on his Isra and Mi'raj to Jerusalem before ascending to paradise, and constitutes the western border of al-Haram al-Sharif ("the Noble Sanctuary"), or the Al-Aqsa compound. The term Western Wall and its variations are mostly used in a narrow sense for the section of the wall used for Jewish prayer and called the "Wailing Wall", referring to the practice of Jews weeping at the site. During the period of Christian Roman rule over Jerusalem (ca. 324–638), Jews were completely barred from Jerusalem except on Tisha B'Av, the day of national mourning for the Temples. The term "Wailing Wall" has historically been used mainly by Christians, with religious Jews generally considering it derogatory. In a broader sense, "Western Wall" can refer to the entire 488-metre-long (1,601 ft) retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount. The classic portion now faces a large plaza in the Jewish Quarter, near the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, while the rest of the wall is concealed behind structures in the Muslim Quarter, with the small exception of an 8-metre (26 ft) section, the so-called "Little Western Wall" or " Small Wailing Wall". This segment of the western retaining wall derives particular importance from never been fully obscured by medieval buildings, and displaying much of the original Herodian stonework. In religious terms, the "Little Western Wall" is presumed to be even closer to the Holy of Holies and thus to the "presence of God" (Shechina), and the underground Warren's Gate, which has been out of reach for Jews from the 12th century till its partial excavation in the 20th century. While the wall was considered an integral part of the Haram esh-Sharif and waqf property of the Moroccan Quarter under Muslim rule, a right of Jewish prayer and pilgrimage has long existed as part of the Status Quo. This position was confirmed in a 1930 international commission during the British Mandate period. With the rise of the Zionist movement in the early 20th century, the wall became a source of friction between the Jewish and Muslim communities, the latter being worried that the wall could be used to further Jewish claims to the Temple Mount and thus Jerusalem. During this period outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace, with a particularly deadly riot in 1929 in which 133 Jews and 116 Arabs were killed, with many more people injured. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the eastern portion of Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan. Under Jordanian control Jews were completely expelled from the Old City including the Jewish Quarter, and Jews were barred from entering the Old City for 19 years, effectively banning Jewish prayer at the site of the Western Wall. This period ended on June 10, 1967, when Israel gained control of the site following the Six-Day War. Three days after establishing control over the Western Wall site, the Moroccan Quarter was bulldozed by Israeli authorities to create space for what is now the Western Wall plaza.

The Dome of Yusuf (Arabic: قبة يوسف Qubbat Yūsuf) is a free-standing domed structure on the Temple Mount, located south of the Dome of the Rock. It was built by Saladin (born Yusuf) in the 12th century, and has been renovated several times. It bears inscriptions from the 12th and 17th centuries: one dated 1191 in Saladin's name, and two mentioning Yusuf Agha, possibly a governor of Jerusalem or a eunuch in the Ottoman imperial palace.