Overview

• Authorities reported more than 100,000 worshippers at the Western Wall Plaza and a record 3,527 Jewish visitors ascending the Temple Mount under tight security on August 3.
• Participants adhered to all five Yom Kippur–style prohibitions—no food, drink, bathing, anointing or leather shoes—with tefillin first donned at the afternoon service.
• Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz led a live broadcast prayer at fast’s end that emphasized unity, redemption and the safe return of hostages.
• National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister Isaac Wasserlauf visited the Temple Mount and urged Israel to assert full sovereignty over Gaza to pressure Hamas for hostage releases.
• Thousands of police officers, Border Police fighters and volunteers maintained tight security across Jerusalem’s Old City and holy sites in the shadow of the Gaza war.