The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf has stated that Israel did not damage or steal any historical items on the Temple Mount when it conducted searches following a deadly terror attack in July.
Israeli police were forced to close the Temple Mount on 14 July after a deadly terror attack which saw three Palestinian terrorists descend from the Temple Mount, armed with guns that had been smuggled onto the holy site, and kill two Israeli-Druze police officers who were protecting the area.
The Waqf, a Jordanian government institution that administers the Temple Mount, reported this week that Israeli forces had not damaged or stolen any historical objects or documents at the site during their searches.
“There are no deficiencies of historical value in the safety boxes, inventory or exhibits,” the report said.
However, the report did criticise Israel for what it called “unjustified searches”, where they claim Israeli authorities had searched, and possibly copied, computer files as well as broken into private lockers. Although, considering the circumstances, these too should be considered justified.
The result of Israeli police searches were the discovery of several weapons, but no guns or serious explosives, Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevi said.
“We found dozens of knives, slingshots, cudgels, spikes, inciting material, unexploded munitions, stun grenades, binoculars — but we haven’t yet found caches of live ammunition,” he told Army Radio at the time.
הר הבית: כלי נשק שנתפסו בשטח המתחם בזמן שהיה סגור – אקדחי דמה, סכינים, שרשראות ונשקים קרים נוספים @doronhe @Yossi_eli pic.twitter.com/kgcMxgGsgX
— חדשות 10 (@news10) July 16, 2017
