As of December 2025, OCHA documented 925 movement obstacles that permanently or intermittently restrict the movement of 3.4 million Palestinians across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

This is 43 percent more than the annual average over the preceding 20 years.

Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank require Israeli-issued permits to access East Jerusalem.

Most permits have been revoked or suspended since October 7 2023.

Al Aqsa was fully closed from February 28 2026, the day the US-Israeli war on Iran began, until April 9 2026.

A 40-day closure.

On March 20 2026, Eid al Fitr prayers were held without access to Al Aqsa.

UNRWA Situation Report 214 confirmed this was the first time the mosque had been closed for Eid prayers since 1967.

When it reopened on April 9, Israeli settlers stormed the compound on the same day and performed Talmudic rituals under police protection.

Seven attempts to bring a Passover sacrifice into Al Aqsa were recorded in 2026, the highest number since 1967.

During Ramadan 2024 and 2025, Israeli authorities limited entry to Jerusalem to 10,000 worshippers per week on Fridays only.

Age limits applied. A permit and a magnetic card were required. A requirement to leave before evening was enforced.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has 57 member states.

Of these, only a handful have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

For Muslims from countries without diplomatic relations, entry to Israel and therefore access to Al Aqsa requires third-country travel, significant bureaucratic obstacles, and in many cases is effectively impossible.

No Israeli consular infrastructure exists in most OIC member states to process applications.

Under the 1967 status quo, non-Muslims were permitted to enter the compound but not to pray or worship.

Israeli courts have increasingly ruled in favour of Jewish prayer rights on the esplanade.

In 2022 an Israeli court issued a ruling referring to the site only as "the Temple Mount" with no mention of Al Aqsa Mosque.

The Jordanian Waqf, which administers the compound under custodianship, has had 12 employees barred from accessing Al Aqsa for extended periods.

The Golden Gate, Bab al-Rahmah, has been forcibly closed since 2003.

The Tankaziyyah School inside the compound has been converted into a police station and synagogue since 2013-2014.

Article 9(2) of the 1994 Wadi Araba Peace Treaty between Israel and Jordan committed Israel to respect Jordan's special role regarding Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, specifically Al Aqsa.

US President Bill Clinton told King Hussein at the signing: "your role as guardian of Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites, Al-Aqsa among them, has been preserved."

Jordan's custodianship was reaffirmed in a 2013 agreement between King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, signed in Amman.

It was recognised by the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, the United States, the Vatican, and representatives of Christian denominations.

Arab Center DC documented in 2023 that practices absent before 1994, now carried out by settlers under Israeli state protection, constitute a breach of Israel's treaty commitment to "respect" Jordan's role.

The Arab Center concluded those elements "form the legal basis of the Jordanian position, which would support its legal case before any judicial authority."

That case has not been filed.

On July 19 2024 the International Court of Justice issued its Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of Israel's Policies and Practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The court found that Israel's continued presence in the OPT is unlawful and must be brought to an end as rapidly as possible.

It found that Israel's legislation in the OPT violates the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid.

Jordan submitted a written statement to the ICJ for this advisory proceeding.

Jordan documented Israel's violations of its treaty obligations regarding Jordanian custodianship of Al Aqsa, the barring of Waqf employees, the forced closure of Bab al-Rahmah since 2003, and the conversion of the Tankaziyyah School into a police station and synagogue.

Jordan's written statement is in the public ICJ record.

Jordan has not filed a formal contentious case against Israel at the ICJ based on the treaty breach.

A written statement in an advisory proceeding is not the same as a formal case.

The Arab Center DC documented in 2023 that the legal basis for such a case exists.

The case has not been brought. That is the documented gap.

The legal basis exists.

The Arab Center DC documented it in 2023.

Jordan's own lawyers documented the breach in their ICJ submission.

The ICJ found the wider system unlawful in July 2024.

Tomorrow we show you who holds the key, who has gone silent, and what the silence looks like when you map it.