RAMALLAH, December 19, 2017 (WAFA) - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Tuesday condemned the excavations at Al Aqsa Mosque, its surroundings, and in the old city of Jerusalem, carried out by the Israeli Antiquities Authority.

In a press statement, the ministry said that the announcement of the inauguration of a new synagogue under the Wall of Al-Buraq by the Israeli Minister of Culture, Miri Regev, aimed at escalating drilling operations in the Old City and the perimeter of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext of revealing and restoring underground monuments, is another desperate attempt to justify the plans of the occupation aimed at “Judaizing” the Of the Holy City.

The ministry said US President Donald Trump’s announcement and the absence of international accountability for Israel as an occupying power disrupting the implementation of international resolutions, encouraged the ruling right in Israel, extremists, and settler population to escalate settlements construction and the “Judaization” process to enact racist laws that lead to forced displacement of Jerusalemites outside their city, in a sort of ethnic cleansing.

Accordingly, the ministry called on the relevant UN organizations, in particular UNESCO, to act immediately to implement and protect their decisions to ensure the protection of the Palestinian holy sites and the old city in Jerusalem.

T.R./M.H.