Deputy Director of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Council Sheikh Najeh Bakirat on Monday warned that the continuous excavations carried out by the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in the Al-Aqsa Mosque were meant to obliterate the Islamic and historical landmarks of the holy site.
Sheikh Bakirat said in a statement that the IOA claims of ownership of the excavation areas in the Al-Aqsa Mosque vicinity are null and void.
“The Old City of Jerusalem is an inseparable part of the Palestinian lands” Sheikh Bakirat confirmed condemning the IOA attempts to change the names of historical Palestinian places in the holy city.
He pointed out that the excavations have been carried out since the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 in the western southern and eastern areas of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The IOA recently expanded its excavations to include the Al-Buraq Wall Umayyad palaces and the Bab al-Amud areas.
