Nuha Eleyan
Serious cracks have started to emerge around Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, especially in the western wall near the Islamic Museum and Bab Al-Maghriba adjacent to Al-Buraq wall up to the Umayyad Palaces as a result of the Israeli occupation excavations underneath Al-Masjid. Its foundations, thus, will be in danger of collapse in case the occupation continues its violations and prevention of the Ministry of Waqf from restoration works in Al-Masjid.

Start of Excavations
Excavations underneath Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa are not new. By the start of 1968, the Israeli occupation mechanisms started to implement huge excavations southern and western Al-Masjid that reached 14 meters of depth, revealing the remains of the Umayyad Palaces so the series of excavations expand to establish tunnels under Al-Masjid. Their number has reached to 10 tunnels so far; the biggest of which is the Western Tunnel that the occupation started to work on in 1970 with a depth of 14 meters, length of 450 meters and height of two meters and a half. As a result, collapses and cracks occurred in the Jerusalemite houses and buildings. Today, the tunnel contains constructions, museums, churches and the like. 

The occupation opened the tunnel in 1996, disclosing the foundations of the Masjid. Thus, a rejecting people uprising, named as "Uprising of the Tunnel," broke out, during which 88 Palestinians were martyred. 

The number of excavations since the occupation of Al-Quds in 1967 up to now has reached 58 excavations, either around or under Al-Masjid; one excavation per year. 

Cracks and Exposed Foundations
Dr. Jamal Amr, Professor in Architecture in Birzeit University in West Bank, said that the new cracks that emerged are not the first of their kind. In 2011, a collapse occurred in Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, causing an unknown hole of depths in the land next to the terrace of Abu Baker before Bab Al-Maghriba in the western side of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa.

In 2018, a huge rock fell from the far south of the western wall of Al-Masjid due to the then excavations next to the Umayyad Palaces. In the same year, clear cracks emerged in Al-Aqsa wall in the eastern side due to foreign materials poured by colonial settlers on the wall. 

Amr predicts that the collapses will get worse in Winter, by the fall of huge amounts of rain and snow, as well as expects landslides.

Ekrima Sabri, Sheikh of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, noted that the Israeli occupation soldiers' protection of those excavations hardens its reachability. He also noted that preventing Al-Aqsa Construction Committee from restoration works and entry of needed materials are two of the main reasons behind those cracks.  

Objectives
The Israeli occupation, with its excavations and tunnels, aims to fake the history and persuade the world that they have monuments in the old city and Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa through connecting historical monuments to the Hebrew period in Al-Quds.

It aims to obliterate and destroy the Islamic monuments that indicate the Arab and Islamic culture in Occupied Al-Quds, and seeks to attract the Jews from all over the world into Palestine, especially Al-Quds, to connect them to the promised land, as claimed. In addition, they look forward to building a historic Jewish city as a substitute to the absence of remains of the "Temple Mount." Thus, the Israeli occupation relies on an earthquake in Palestine to expose Al-Masjid to the danger of collapse.

Risks and Repercussions
Excavations have led to a systematic destruction of many monuments above and under the land, and demolition of architectural layers in all the Arab and Islamic period -from the Umayyad to the Othman era. They also caused cracks and destruction in the walls, lands and buildings of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, the Old City and Silwan in an attempt to Judaize Al-Aqsa and change the cultural landmarks, consolidating the occupation's control over the land by establishing colonial constructions that serve the Zionist project. Tunnels, thus, contain Jewish churches and Talmudic shrines. 

Dr. Jamal Amr urged the Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims to defend Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and quit silence to the occupation's systematic violations and excavations underneath Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds.