OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, January 3, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – The Supreme Islamic Association and Al-Aqsa Association for Construction of the Holy Shrines accused Israel on Tuesday, January 3, of building a Jewish synagogue beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning that the continued Israeli excavations jeopardize the mosque's structure.

"The synagogue has been built right beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque, some 90m from the Dome of the Rock," Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement inside the Green Line, told a press conference in the holy city, reported Al-Jazeera.

He said the synagogue includes seven rooms tracing the Jewish history.

"One of these rooms features Germany's Nazi rule and the World War II Holocaust."

Salah said that works were in full swing to build another synagogue for women under the mosque.

The conference featured video footages and photos documenting the synagogue as well as the continued Israeli excavations.

Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque, represents the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif which was the first qiblah (direction Muslims take during prayers).

Al-Haram Al-Sharif's significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al-Israa’ and Al-Mi`raj (the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad). 

Sheikh Ekrema (L) urged the Arab and Islamic worlds to intervene to halt Israeli excavations.

Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the Mufti of Al-Quds and Palestine, echoed a similar warning.

"The Israeli authorities have been exploiting the big gates of the western side of al-Aqsa since 1996 through conducting a series of excavation works which ended with clandestinely erecting a synagogue," he told the same conference.

"Constructing such a synagogue proves that the Israelis did not find any sign for their alleged Haykal, that is why they made up some rooms to vaguely narrate their religious history," Sabri added.

He urged the Arab and Islamic worlds to intervene to halt Israeli excavations under Al-Aqsa.

Salah, meanwhile, warned that Israeli excavations under the holy site were threatening the structure of the mosque.

"A truck driver was assigned to move equipments to the excavation sites and he was shocked to see a huge tunnel under the mosque that can allow a truck to pass through," he said.

He said excavations under the mosque are continuing in full swing to establish the Haykal before 2007, dismissing them as a "black stain" on Israel.

Israeli authorities recently unveiled an underground site that they say strengthens Jewish ties to the compound.

Palestinian and Jordanian archeologists have warned that ongoing Israeli excavations have weakened the foundations of the mosque, cautioning it would not stand a powerful earthquake.

A part of the road leading to one of the mosque’s main gates collapsed in February, 2004 due to the destructive Israeli digging work.

Salah warned that the Israeli aggressions against the Muslim holy site would have grave repercussions.

"You are inviting an uprising against you just to stop your attack on the mosque," he said, addressing himself to the Israeli government.

Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out in September 2000 after a provocative visit by then opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the mosque.

In 1996, eighty people were killed in clashes with the Israeli occupation forces to protest the opening of an Israeli tunnel alongside the compound.

On August 21, 1969, Al-Aqsa was set ablaze, gutting its southern wing –- some 1,500 square meters out of a total of 4,400 -- and destroyed the historical pulpit established by Muslim hero Salahudin Al-Ayyubi.

Palestinians pointed the finger at Jewish extremists and the Israeli government, which claimed that the fire was triggered by a short circuit but later admitted that a man from Australia, who sought refuge in a kibbutz, was found guilty.

The man was set free after receiving psychiatric counseling.

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