This phrase implies that the Mosque is somehow in peril or in need of defense when, in fact, Israel has long respected the rights of Muslims to pray freely at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Hamas called its October 7 massacre “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, implying the beheadings, murders, rapes and hostage-taking were in the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits on top of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and is the third holiest site in Islam.