The Israeli occupation army continues to prevent the local residents of al-Khalil city from carrying out any renovations on their homes and buildings including al-Wakala caravansary in the Palestinian neighborhoods of the Old City.
Director of al-Khalil Reconstruction Committee Emad Hamdan said that the Israeli army which allowed the establishment of a Jewish settler outpost in the Old City of al-Khalil persists in preventing the local residents from renovating their homes and buildings.
Hamdan added that al-Wakala caravansary is a historical site that was built 400 years ago and used to be the only hotel in the area adding that it was a rest recreation and marketing station for travelers and passengers.
“We were able to gather money to restore the caravansary which is composed of 20 bedrooms and to revive it as a hotel but when we obtained the funds for that the occupation prevented us from doing so and we had to carry out the project elsewhere” he explained.
He pointed out that the Israeli army cited security reasons to justify its decision not to allow the restoration of the site adding that the presence of a settler outpost in ash-Shuhada street was behind that decision.
