Israeli authorities have begun digging works underneath Masjid Al-Aqsa in a new plan to build a synagogue near Al-Buraq Wall, known to Jews as the Wailing Wall.
Safa news agency reported that, “The Synagogue is marked by a special design inclusive of iron bars where the ‘Biblical travels’ sentence is written on each, along with roundtable and tens of wooden disks”.
Inauguration of the planned synagogue coincides with the call of Israeli culture Minister, Miri Regev, who recently addressed the government to allocate a budget for digging works to continue.
This move came in cooperation with the so-called “Israeli Antiquities Agency” to disclose a plan set by Regev.
This escalation came in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States officially recognises occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city, as well as moving its embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, head of Jerusalem’s Supreme Islamic Council and a former imam of Masjid Al-Aqsa, said in statement: “The wall is part of our Islamic heritage and will remain so until Judgement Day.
“The Israeli occupation has no claim on Jerusalem’s heritage,” he added. “This new synagogue…doesn’t have any historical roots.
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“All new construction by the [Israeli] occupation authorities in Jerusalem is illegitimate and lacks a historical basis,” Sabri said, adding the holy city “cannot be partitioned.”
Tensions have increased in the occupied Palestinian territories since President Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city on Wednesday 6 December, drawing widespread condemnation from the international community.
On Wednesday, the United Nationals Security Council (UNSC) voted 14 to one against Trump’s decision, however due to the US power of veto a resolution could not be passed against his unilateral move.
