Israeli police have allowed Jewish visitors to bring printed prayer texts onto the Temple Mount for the first time, marking a notable shift at the highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site
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Illustration – Jewish visitors on the Temple MountHozrim lahar
Israeli police have, for the first time, permitted Jewish visitors to enter the Temple Mount carrying printed prayer materials, marking a notable shift in the management of one of Jerusalem’s most sensitive religious sites.
According to multiple reports, Jewish worshippers were handed liturgical leaflets on Wednesday morning ahead of their ascent to the compound.
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The leaflets reportedly include religious guidelines for visiting the site, a prayer to recite before ascending, and the Amidah, a central prayer in Jewish liturgy.
Until now, while discreet forms of Jewish prayer had increasingly been tolerated, bringing any religious items or printed texts onto the site—such as prayer books, tallit, or tefillin—remained strictly prohibited.
Police have not issued an official statement on the change. Beyadenu, an organization advocating for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, said that for now only a specific brochure produced by a Temple Mount-affiliated yeshiva has been approved, though the policy could evolve further.
Itamar Ben-Gvir leads prayers on Temple Mount
Under longstanding understandings between Israel and Jordan— which administers the site through the Islamic Waqf—non-Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa compound, is officially prohibited. These arrangements are intended to preserve the fragile status quo at the site, sacred to Jews as the location of the ancient Temples and to Muslims as home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock since the 7th century.
In practice, enforcement of these restrictions has eased in recent years. Previously, Jewish visitors found praying were routinely removed or detained.
That approach has softened under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a vocal supporter of expanding Jewish prayer rights at the site. Jewish worshippers are now often permitted to pray quietly and, in some areas—particularly on the eastern side of the esplanade—to prostrate themselves.
Beyadenu described the introduction of printed prayers as a significant step.
“This is something the police once enforced with extreme strictness,” a spokesperson said, noting that possession of liturgical texts previously resulted in immediate expulsion.
The shift follows the recent appointment of Avshalom Peled, an associate of Ben Gvir, as Jerusalem district police commander. According to Haaretz, his predecessor reportedly left the role after resisting political pressure to further relax regulations governing the site.
Zamir visits air base that welcomed three new F-35s into IAF arsenal; at Home Front Command earlier in week, IDF chief said Israel preparing for ‘surprise war’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to Israeli Air Force pilots and air personnel at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, January 21, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday said the military was prepared to act against any enemy posing a threat to the country amid ongoing tensions with Iran.
During a visit to the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, Zamir told Israeli Air Force pilots and air personnel that the military “will know how to strike powerfully in any arena against any enemy that threatens the security of the State of Israel,” according to remarks provided by the military.
The base is home to the IAF’s F-35I stealth fighters. This week, three new F-35s joined the IAF’s arsenal, bringing its total to 48.
“The air force constitutes the IDF’s strategic arm. You have been at the forefront of the offensive and defensive effort in both near and distant arenas over the past two years of fighting,” Zamir said.
Zamir told the pilots that during the 12-day war with Iran in June, “you accumulated operational experience unparalleled anywhere in the world, and we will know how to draw lessons from it and use it to ensure the security of the State of Israel at all times.”
“We are prepared for various scenarios and continuously improve our capabilities in order to achieve victory in the overall campaign against our enemies. This is our responsibility and our mission,” he said.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) speaks to an officer at the Home Front Command headquarters in Ramle, January 19, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
During a visit to the Home Front Command on Monday, Zamir also said the military remains prepared for defense against “multifront threats,” in an apparent reference to Iran.
“In the face of the scope of the multifront threats to the State of Israel, the Home Front Command stands on defense, is competent, trained, and on high alert. The command is prepared at all times to employ a wide range of capabilities to contend with an attack on the civilian home front and to save lives,” Zamir said.
“At the same time, the IDF is prepared to employ an offensive capability unprecedented in its power against any attempt to harm the State of Israel,” he continued.
“We are prepared with full defense for any scenario,” Zamir said, adding that the lessons from the 12-day war against Iran in June have been implemented in the military, “and as part of this, the IDF is also preparing for the possibility of a surprise war.”
The comments came a week after tensions spiked in the region, after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran if it killed anti-government protesters.
While he has since appeared to back down, claiming authorities had halted plans to execute hundreds of protesters, Trump is continuing to push his aides to devise what he calls “decisive” military options against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Tehran has said in the past that it would target Israel and US military targets in the Middle East if Trump were to order strikes.
As concerns over war eased, the United Kingdom dialed down its travel warning to Israel on Wednesday, after advising last week that British citizens avoid “all but essential travel” to the region.
Illustrative: A passenger arrives from a flight at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport in London, August 2, 2021. (Matt Dunham/AP)
Now, the UK’s Foreign Office lifted the warning for most of the country, with the exception of high-risk areas.
It continues to advise against all travel within 500 meters of the Gaza border, within 500 meters of the buffer zone separating Israel and Syria, and within 500 meters of the Lebanon border.
In the Palestinian territories, it recommends against all travel to Gaza as well as several areas in the West Bank, including Tulkarm, Jenin, and Tubas.
Finally, it “advises against all but essential travel” to the rest of the West Bank, excluding Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jericho.
The death toll from the Iranian protests has reached at least 4,519 people, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said. The agency has been accurate throughout the years on demonstrations and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll.
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic into being. Although there have been no protests for days, there are fears the death toll could increase significantly as information gradually emerges from a country still under a government-imposed shutdown of the internet since January 8.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that the protests had left “several thousand” people dead and blamed the United States. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties.
More than 26,300 people have been arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Comments from officials have led to fears of some of those detained being put to death in Iran, one of the world’s top executioners. That and the killing of peaceful protesters have been two red lines laid down by Trump in the tensions.
Options said to include actions aimed at toppling regime; Iran says it would fight back ‘with everything we have’; Amnesty warns Iran plans to execute protester on Wednesday
A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands at an unnamed base in the Middle East, January 18, 2026 (CENTCOM/X)
US President Donald Trump is continuing to push his aides to devise what he calls “decisive” military options against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, days after the American leader called off strikes against the Islamic Republic.
Citing US officials, the report said Trump has repeatedly employed the word “decisive” when discussing what outcome he would want from an American attack on Iran, leading aides at the White House and Pentagon to draw up an array of options for him — among them actions that would be aimed at toppling the regime.
Other options that are more limited in aim reportedly include strikes on facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Officials quoted by the US newspaper said Trump still hasn’t ruled out strikes, though it’s unclear what he may ultimately decide, with the deliberations coming as an American aircraft carrier group moved westward toward the Middle East from Asia.
Meanwhile, American fighter jets and other equipment also appear to be moving to the Mideast after a major US military deployment to the Caribbean saw troops seize Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued the most direct threat yet against the US, warning the Islamic Republic would be “firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack.”
US President Donald Trump speaks before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Jan. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Tehran has said in the past that it would target Israel and US military targets in the Middle East if Trump were to order strikes.
The comments by Araghchi, who saw his invitation to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos rescinded over over a brutal crackdown on recent protests in Iran, came in an opinion article also published by The Wall Street Journal.
The Iranian foreign minister contended that “the violent phase of the unrest lasted less than 72 hours” and sought again to blame armed demonstrators for the violence.
Videos that have slipped out of Iran despite the internet shutdown appear to show security forces repeatedly using live fire to target apparently unarmed protesters, something unaddressed by Araghchi.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Tehran, Iran, on January 18, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
“Unlike the restraint Iran showed in June 2025, our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack,” Araghchi wrote, referring to the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June. “This isn’t a threat, but a reality I feel I need to convey explicitly, because as a diplomat and a veteran, I abhor war.”
He added: “An all-out confrontation will certainly be ferocious and drag on far, far longer than the fantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House. It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe.”
An Iranian official in the region said this week that the authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel.
Activists believe the death toll to be far higher, but the numbers cannot be verified amid an ongoing internet blackout.
There have been reports that the families of protesters killed have been coerced into saying their relatives were members of the security forces in an apparent attempt to inflate that toll.
This frame grab from videos taken between January 9 and January 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran’s capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
Speaking on Tuesday at the White House, Trump reiterated his claim that Iran halted plans to execute protesters last week after threats from Washington.
“They were going to hang 837 people, and… we let them know that if that happens, that will be a very bad day for them, and they decided not to do it,” he said. “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future, but supposedly they’ve taken that off the table.”
The US president had threatened to strike Iran if it killed protesters, which the regime proceeded to do in the thousands.
But toward the end of last week, the president indicated that he had pulled back from plans to attack due to Iran’s purported cancellation of planned hangings of protesters.
The Islamic Republic has not publicly confirmed those plans.
Amnesty International said Tuesday that Iranian authorities planned to execute 19-year-old Amirhossein Ghaderzadeh on Wednesday over his participation in protests in Rasht in Gilan province.
Meanwhile, Iran warned Trump not to take any action against the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, days after the US president called for an end to Khamenei’s nearly 40-year reign.
Iranian General Abolfazl Shekarchi was quoted as saying Trump already knew Tehran would not hold back if the tables were turned.
“Trump knows that if a hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we will not only sever that hand, and this is not a mere slogan,” Shekarchi was quoted as telling Iranian state media. “But we will set their world on fire and leave them no safe haven in the region.”
In an apparent response, Trump repeated his warning that the United States will “wipe” out Iran if Tehran were to assassinate him.
“The whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said in an interview with NewsNation. “I have very firm instructions — anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”
