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IOA accelerates underground digging around Al-Aqsa Mosque

January 13, 2023 at 6:14 pm

Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on October 21, 2022 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Jerusalem Affairs researcher, Fakhri Abu Diyab, has revealed that the Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) has accelerated its underground digging activities around the Aqsa Mosque, particularly on its southern and south-western sides, The Palestinian Information Centre reports.

SAFA news agency, quoted Abu Diyab, as saying that suspicious digging continues to take place noticeably and at an accelerating pace around the Aqsa Mosque, which threatens the Mosque’s foundations, walls and ancient buildings.

The researcher affirmed that workers with construction and digging equipment can be easily seen in the targeted areas, working particularly on emptying mounds of dirt and debris from the sites.

“The areas being targeted by excavations and Judaisation activities include the Umayyad Palaces, the Maghariba Gate, Al-Buraq Wall, the southern wall of the Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, and the northern entrance of Silwan,” he said.

“These excavations have intensified since the beginning of the current year. We have never seen digging of such intensity and speed around the Aqsa Mosque before,” Abu Diyab added.

“As if the Occupation Authority is planning to carry out a pre-planned and dangerous action against the Aqsa Mosque, and perhaps to bring about fundamental changes in the area or prepare it for a Judaisation scheme,” he warned.

READ: Hamas calls for urgent action to protect Al-Aqsa from Israeli excavations