In an extremely rare incident, a stone dislodged from the Western Wall on Monday morning and crashed to the ground.
The incident took place near the edge of the Ezrat Yisrael prayer plaza, adjacent to Robinson's Arch, an area at the south end of the wall where women are permitted to use the Torah scroll.
Fortunately, the area was empty at the time of the incident and no one was harmed.
Israel Antiquities Authority officials arrived at the wall to inspect the damage. The area was cordoned off until further notice, for safety reasons.
"This is a difficult morning. We clearly narrowly escaped tragedy. One could only imagine what could have been had this happened last night, when the place was packed with worshippers," CEO of the Masorti Movement Yizhar Hess said.
Thousands gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Saturday night and on Sunday to mark Tisha B'Av, the historic date on which the Romans sacked Jerusalem and burned down the Second Temple, sending the Jewish people into 2,000 years of exile.
Hess said the incident was "the Western Wall's way of reminding us that it's not only a holy place where we pray but also a 2,000-year-old retaining wall. Engineers must now survey the entire wall to prevent a future disaster."
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz said, "This is an extremely rare incident, which hasn't happened in decades. I dare not try to interpret this incident.
"The fact that such a thing happened the day after Tisha B'Av, when we mourn our temples raises many questions that the human soul falls short of containing and it requires soul-searching. I thank God that disaster was averted," he said.
