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Police arrest Palestinians for illegal construction on Temple Mount

Police thwarted another Palestinian attempt to undermine Israel’s sovereignty in its capital. 

Israeli policemen arrested six Palestinians on Thursday at the Temple Mount on charges that they violated laws regarding to the preservation of antiquities and archaeological artifacts.

The Palestinians – an engineer and five workers – constructed scaffolding near the Dome of the Rock with the intent of carrying out construction at the site, without obtaining the proper permits from Israeli authorities.

The engineer is a Waqf employee. The Waqf – the Muslim Religious Trust, under Jordanian guidance – is entrusted with securing the Temple Mount.

The arrests were carried out on the orders of Jerusalem’s District Commander Yoram Halevi. The case was turned over to Israel’s Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Police banned the six Palestinians from the Temple Mount for the next five days.

The Temple Mount has been the site of multiple incidents of Palestinian violence and friction with Israel’s authorities.

The site is the place where the first two Jewish Temples stood and is the holiest site to Judaism, while Palestinians deny that the Temples ever existed.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News