New al-Aqsa excavations reported

Palestinians are warning against Israel’s new scheme to judaize al-Quds (Jerusalem) as Tel Aviv prepares for an excavation near the highly revered al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli authorities are planning a huge excavation near the Wailing Wall and the field to the west of al-Aqsa Mosque, the Palestinian institute for Cultural Heritage and Endowment warned on Wednesday.

“The occupation authorities are planning to judaize the Wailing (al-Buraq) Wall and the area around al-Aqsa Mosque above and below the ground,” the institute said in a statement carried by the Palestinian Sama news agency.

Israel’s Planning Local Construction Commission is expected to ratify a project to build in an area of 600 square meters on the grounds and basement of the Wailing Square, according to the statement.

The implementation of such a plot, along with other Israeli schemes, would be a direct threat to al-Aqsa Mosque and the Wailing Wall as an integral part of the mosque, especially since the excavation is expected to dig under the mosque’s grounds and its adjacent buildings, it further warned.

“Israeli occupation forces and the daily facts on the ground are associated with the destruction of Islamic landmarks and the Arab al-Quds and a race against time to judaize the area under and around al-Aqsa Mosque.”

The Wailing Wall, sacred to both Muslims and Jews, is located on the western side of the Temple Mount (the Noble Sanctuary) in the Old City of the Israeli-annexed East al-Quds.