More than 2,300 Israelis entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on July 23, 2026, according to the Palestinian-run Jerusalem governorate, which counted people over a three-hour period Al Jazeera. The governorate expected the number to reach as high as 5,000 by sundown. Anadolu Agency, a Turkish news service, put the count at about 1,300 at the time it reported. Israeli media said separately that police allowed more than 1,000 Israelis to pray at the site.

The visit fell on Tisha B'Av, a Jewish holy day that mourns the destruction of two ancient temples in Jerusalem. The Israelis who entered performed religious rituals inside the compound, including bowing, singing, and praying, according to the Jerusalem governorate Al Jazeera. WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, reported that the entries began at 6:30 AM under a newly extended morning schedule WAFA. Settlers entered from the Mount of Olives, per Anadolu Agency footage distributed via Reuters Connect.

Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, entered the compound with heavy police protection Al Jazeera. According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, Ben-Gvir said Jews visiting the site on Tisha B'Av "feel like the owners" and praised what he called "tremendous progress." Middle East Eye reported that Israeli ministers and lawmakers led what it called a mass raid by ultranationalist Israelis Middle East Eye. Members of the ruling Likud party joined in, which Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh called a "fundamental political shift."

Israeli forces placed tight restrictions at the mosque's gates, blocking many Palestinian worshippers and students from entering. Police enforced age-based limits, so Palestinian worshippers prayed outside the mosque instead Haaretz.

The Jerusalem governorate called Ben-Gvir's entry a dangerous escalation that shows official Israeli backing. The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned calls for the visits as a "dangerous escalation" aimed at changing the historical and legal status quo of the site Al Jazeera.

Ben-Gvir has a history of tension at this site. In April 2026, The Times of Israel reported that he said he feels like the "master" of the Temple Mount. Jordan condemned that visit, accusing him of "storming Al-Aqsa" Times of Israel. In May 2026, Ben-Gvir waved an Israeli flag on the Temple Mount alongside a far-right lawmaker who called to "get rid of all the mosques" and "construct the Temple" Times of Israel. Hamas has previously warned that Ben-Gvir could "blow up the situation" if he visits the site Times of Israel. The United Arab Emirates condemned an earlier visit, denouncing his "storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard" Times of Israel.

The broader context here helps explain why this matters. The compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. It is the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. For decades, a set of unwritten rules called the "status quo" has governed the site. Under this arrangement, non-Muslims may visit but are not supposed to hold formal Jewish prayer there. Jordan's Waqf, an Islamic religious trust, manages the site under a 1994 peace treaty with Israel. The Israeli government has officially upheld this arrangement, though enforcement has shifted over the years. Ben-Gvir, as National Security Minister, oversees Israeli police in East Jerusalem, including at the compound's gates. His direct participation, alongside ruling-party lawmakers, turns what has mostly been a grassroots settler movement into something directed or enabled by the state.

The sheer size of the July 23 visit, the extended morning entry window, the open performance of religious rituals, and the presence of senior government officials together push against the status quo in ways that earlier visits, mostly by organized settler groups without ministers, did not. The difference between the governorate's count of over 2,300 and Anadolu's figure of about 1,300 likely comes down to the time periods each source was tracking, since the governorate was counting a rolling total it expected to keep rising.

Whether countries in the region respond to this visit with the same diplomatic condemnation they directed at Ben-Gvir's earlier visits will signal how much appetite Jordan, the Gulf states, and others have for pressing the status quo issue when broader regional dynamics are already unstable. The fact that Likud party figures joined a far-right minister suggests these visits are becoming normalized beyond the political fringe.