On the 23rd (local time), marking the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av, more than 1,000 Jews forced open public prayers at a holy site in East Jerusalem, which is expected to draw strong backlash from the Islamic world.

The public prayers, which broke the "status quo" principle of the holy site, took place under the protection of Israeli police.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the National Security Minister and a prominent far-right politician within the ruling Israeli coalition, participated and once again made remarks that provoked the Islamic world.

According to local media including the daily Haaretz, more than 1,000 Jewish worshippers held large-scale public prayers under police protection on the morning of the fast day, which mourns the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples, at the holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.

Released footage showed numerous Jews walking across the plaza singing Jewish liturgical songs while police watched without stopping them.

Another video captured Amit Halevy, a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), and Jewish men waving Israeli flags and singing the national anthem in front of the stairs of the Dome of the Rock.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has pushed for expanding banned Jewish public prayers at the religiously sensitive holy site, also joined the prayers.

At the scene, he expressed joy, saying, "Look at what is happening here. Jews are offering prayers and feeling like the masters [of the holy site]. This is something that never happened before."

The holy site, known to the Islamic world as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Israel as the Temple Mount, was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.

However, Israel has established and maintained a "status quo" principle to keep the existing control methods in order to prevent its occupation of the site—a shared sacred place for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity—from escalating into a religious war.

Under this principle, only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the holy site, while non-Muslims are permitted to visit but not pray.

Jewish prayer has only been permitted below the Western Wall of the holy site.

However, these principles have been gradually eroded since two years ago, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined hands with far-right factions including Minister Ben-Gvir to launch the most nationalist coalition in history.

In particular, Minister Ben-Gvir has taken the lead in breaking the status quo by frequently visiting the holy site to pray.

Despite this, never before have so many Jews publicly broken the status quo to hold group prayers.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)