Israel places West Bank Islamic site under its authority, Palestine calls for ‘urgent’ intervention

An Israeli military force raided several areas in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarm governorate on Sunday, including the Banat Yaqub shrine, and posted notices stating that the site had been placed under the authority of Israel’s Antiquities Authority.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the building consists of two floors: a lower floor dating to the Roman period and an upper floor dating to the Mamluk period. It has domes, a prayer room and a basement leading to the ground floor.

Two stone-built pools and two structures dating to the Roman period are located in front of the building. A modern adjacent building, known as Al-Fakhara, is linked to pottery production and contains a pottery kiln.

The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with Tulkarm municipality, restored and rehabilitated the site between 2002 and 2004.

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The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments condemned the move, saying in a statement that Israeli authorities had declared the Banat Yaqub shrine in the Artah suburb south of Tulkarm, which stands on land belonging to a religious endowment, an archaeological site under the jurisdiction of Israel’s Antiquities Authority.

The ministry said the measure was part of what it described as Israel’s policy of taking control of endowment land and confiscating it to serve settlement and expansion plans.

It called on “international and human rights institutions to intervene urgently to stop these violations and protect endowment lands and property from confiscation and seizure”.

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