Jerusalem Municipality renews demand to demolish Moroccan Bridge to Al-Aqsa

Media sources in Israel have revealed that the Israeli-run Jerusalem municipality has, in cooperation with “The Western Wall Heritage Foundation”, presented a request for a new permit to demolish and replace the historic Moroccans’ Gate Bridge which leads to Al-Aqsa Mosque. The move is being made under the pretext that the current bridge “poses a threat to public safety” and comes two weeks after the previous demolition permit expired.

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According to the Hebrew language Maarev, an Israeli court issued a court order against the current plan two weeks ago and ordered a re-examination of the proposal in the National Council for Planning and Building.

Sources within the Jerusalem municipality revealed that it has been “in the process of preparing the request and the necessary permits to obtain approval for the plan since last November”. At that time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to postpone the demolition order due to political pressure from both Egypt and Jordan. As part of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, the bridge is technically a waqf (religious endowment) property under the control of the Jordanian authorities.