The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday condemned ongoing excavations by the Israeli government beneath al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
According to the ministry, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “continues to employ all its potential in its war against the annexed East Jerusalem, and the Palestinian presence there, in order to enforce the arbitrary Judaization policies.”
Background: 02/15/15 Jewish Organization to Begin Further Excavations under Al Aqsa
It said that such excavations target to separate the city from its Palestinian surroundings. To achieve this, the ministry added, “the Israeli authorities are seeking to Judaize the city and obliterate its Palestinian identity.”
The ministry condemned, according to WAFA, what it described as “international silence” towards the crimes of the Israeli occupation in Jerusalem. It called upon the UN Security Council to pressure Israel to stop these violations, which form a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and international law.
The ministry called on the Arab and Muslim countries “not to keep silent”, in the face of the Israeli violations in Jerusalem, and called upon them to immediately act, in order to protect the holy city.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place, alleged to be the original site of Solomon’s Temple. Disputes surrounding visitation to the site have historically flared tensions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In 2003, the Israeli government unilaterally decided — despite the objections of the Islamic Endowments Department — to allow non-Muslim visitors into the complex.
Since then, under increasingly right-wing Israeli governments, extremist Jewish settlers have been allowed into the site in ever greater numbers — usually protected by Israeli security forces — while Palestinian access to the site has become increasingly restricted.
Christians outside of the Levant remain divided on the issue, as biblical end times prophecy states: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” ~Revelation 21:22
However, settler attacks on Christian holy sites have been progressive in recent years, and are now on the increase, as well.
Also of interest: Rabbi Lau: 3rd Temple Can be Built Without Destroying Al Aqsa
