Israel digs tunnels under Old City
By MOHAMMED MAR’I | ARAB NEWS
Feb 18, 2010

RAMALLAH: The Al Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said on Thursday that “Israeli occupation authorities began digging new and wide tunnels under the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.”

In a press statement, the foundation said that the new diggings were concentrated between Bab Al-Sahirah and Bab Al-Amoud, located under the northern wall of the Old City.

It added that the Israeli authorities were planning to build new tunnels to connect them with a network of tunnels that leads to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The foundation warned that the excavations will weaken the foundation of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine Sheikh Mohammed Hussein criticized the Israeli move.

Hussein told Arab News that Israeli authorities are trying to find proof of the alleged Second Temple under the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He said that the authorities have failed to prove Jewish presence in the holy city or that the Temple ever existed.

Hussein called the new excavations a provocative act. He urged Arab and Muslim states to take action to stop the Israeli move.

In a separate development, Israeli forces operating in the West Bank cities early Thursday arrested 11 Palestinians.

Palestinian security sources said that 11 were detained in Hebron, Nablus and Jenin. Israeli security sources told the Army Radio that the detainees were taken to unknown locations for questioning by the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet.

Also on Thursday, Israeli forces raided the home of the wanted Palestinian activist Ammar Khader and threatened to kill him.

The Palestinian sources said that the forces raided Khader’s home in the village of Anza and told his father that his son will be killed if he does not turn himself in to the Israeli Army.