Days Of Palestine – Jerusalem

The Islamic Jerusalem Endowments (Waqf) council in a press statement called on the Israeli authorities to immediately halt all work carried out at al-Aqsa mosque and to remove all equipment installed on the walls of the mosque.

A group of Israeli workers on Sunday resumed work on the southern wall of al-Aqsa mosque in the Umayyad palaces area, alleging undergoing restoration works on the mosque.

The council stressed that Waqf is the sole institution responsible for administrating the affairs of al-Aqsa Mosque, including maintenance of the inside and outside walls of the mosque.

It warned against the continuation of such actions and violations against the mosque with its total area of 144-dunums, stressing that it is a place of worship and prayer for Muslims only under the guardianship of Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein.

It also warned against the continuation of underground excavations in the vicinity of the al-Aqsa mosque, particularly in the Umayyad palaces area.

Waqf also called on the Israeli authorities to return the historical rocks it stole in order to place them back at the western mosque’s wall.