Palestinians digging a trench on the Temple Mount yesterday. Eyewitnesses report that a separate tunnel is being built.(Photo: Israel Police)

Waqf digs new tunnel on Temple Mount

By Nadav Shragai
Ha'aretz Correspondent

The Waqf (Muslim Religious Trust) has recently dug a new tunnel on the Temple Mount between Solomon's Stables and the ruins of the ancient Al Aqsa Mosque (not to be confused with the Al Aqsa mosque currently standing), according to eyewitnesses.

Due to negative publicity, however, the Waqf has apparently stopped work in certain other areas of the Mount.

According to the eyewitnesses - including Israel Radio reporter Danny Zaken - the new tunnel includes electric lighting and an observation pit with an iron grille in the floor through which can be seen remnants of an old floor.

The police, however, deny that the new tunnel exists. In a statement issued yesterday, the Jerusalem Police and the Public Security Ministry said that they "completely reject the claims that have been made in recent days regarding excavations on the Temple Mount." The statement said the only digging currently taking place on the mount is the construction of a 20-meter trench between the current Al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby added that he visited the mount yesterday, but saw no signs of digging there.

The Waqf also denied yesterday that it has been doing any digging on the Mount, but added that it did not need Israel's permission should it choose to do so.

In response, some members of the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount accused the police of deliberately misleading the public. Other committee members adopted a more moderate tone, but nevertheless said the police were wrong.

"The police are not trained in professional archaeological observation, and therefore did not find the tunnel," said committee member and archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar.

Mazar said the committee has hard evidence of the tunnel's construction. She also said the Waqf has removed some 1,500 tons of dirt - in which quantities of artifacts might have been buried - from the Mount over the last few weeks.

District archaeologist Jon Zeligman said that he was unaware of any new tunnels, but added that since the Waqf has not allowed Antiquities Authority personnel onto the Mount in months, this means little.

Author Haim Guri, one of several public figures who last week signed a sharply worded open letter to Prime Minister Ehud Barak on this subject, said yesterday that the public has a right to know what is really happening on the Mount, and that it should be opened to inspections by journalists and archaeologists. Israel and the Palestinians, he said, must show "respect for each other's cultural heritage.