Over 1,000 Jews visit Temple Mount, pray openly to mark fast day

Over 1,000 Jewish worshipers visited the Temple Mount this morning, according to reports, openly holding mass prayers under police protection, including on parts of the site where such activities were previously prohibited.

The visits coincide with the fast of Tisha B’Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of both holy Temples that once stood on the site, which is now home to the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine, making it a major flashpoint of religious tensions.

מתפללים ישראלים קיימו תפילה המונית ברחבה שמחוץ למסגדים בהר-הבית, שטח שבו אסורה תפילת יהודים. במשטרה אומרים: מדובר באתר הכלול במסלול הביקורים, בסרטונים שהופצו נראים שוטרים מנחים את המתפללים להמשיך ולהתקדם@HGoldich @VeredPelman

צילום: חוזרים להר pic.twitter.com/uSaHtRjodY

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 23, 2026

Videos show large numbers of Jewish men and women walking around the esplanade, many of them singing from Jewish liturgy, as police look on.

In another video, men hold Israeli flags in front of the Dome of the Rock’s steps while singing Israel’s national anthem along with Knesset Member Amit Levy.

יהודים שעלו להר הבית הניפו דגלים במסגד אלאקצה. ושרו את התקווה.
שמתם לב אין איומים של חמאס על ירי רקטות. אין סבבים של רקטות. pic.twitter.com/fwylau9piH

— Amram (@el_amram) July 23, 2026

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has sought to expand open Jewish prayer on the sensitive site, is also among those visiting.

“Look what’s happening here, Jews are praying, they feel like they are the owners. That’s never happened here,” he says.

A status quo agreement governing the administration of the site for decades forbade Jewish prayer on the site in deference to Muslim sensitivities. That arrangement has been chipped away steadily in the past two years, though before today, prayer was generally limited to only certain areas of the compound, according to Haaretz.