Al-Aqsa guards stops Israelis from stealing ancient monuments in occupied Jerusalem

UN Staff members of the Israel Antiquities Authority attempted on Monday to steal an ancient stone inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, the media official at the Department of Islamic Waqf (Endowment) in Jerusalem reported today.

Firas Al-Dibs told Quds Press that the Israeli police arrested four guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque while they were preventing Jewish archaeologists, from the antiquities authority crew, from stealing ancient stones from the mosque.

Read: New Israeli organisation to defend alleged Jewish links to Al-Aqsa Mosque

He stressed that the Israeli attempt was aborted by Al-Aqsa guards when they intercepted the Jews and prevented them from stealing the ancient stone.

Al-Aqsa, the third-holiest site in Islam, has been raided several times by the Israeli settlers and police officers. The Jewish community claim the mosque compound to be the site of the old Jewish temples, referring to it as Temple Mount.

Last October, the UNESCO Executive Council adopted a final resolution that considers Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Buraq Wall (Western Wall) to be a holy place for Muslims only, while denying any Jewish ties to the holy site. The resolution, which criticised Israeli restricted policies around the mosque’s compound, has recognised Israel as the “occupying power.”