An-Najah News - The Israeli planning authorities have proposed a plan to build an underground railway tunnel in the occupied city of Jerusalem that reaches the edge of Al Aqsa mosque, taking advantage of the corona pandemic.

The Arab Center for Alternative Planning said that the plan was announced and began preparing for it during the state of emergency that was announced recently by the Israeli government, fearing the coronavirus outbreak.

The Arab Center for Alternative Planning indicated that, according to the preliminary examination, it was found that "the tunnel to be built penetrates into the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem in the ground, specifically the Old City neighborhoods, Silwan and AbuTor. It also seems to have many impacts on many areas of life related to these neighborhoods.

“It should be recalled here that the project of building an underground train tunnel to the outskirts of Al Aqsa Mosque and the Silwan neighborhood joins a series of other mysterious and dangerous projects that are being carried out in this sensitive area, such as the 'Temple Tunnel' that runs under the neighborhoods of the old town and threatens its safety and its stability, and the “City of David” project, whose various installations threaten Silwan and Bab al-Magharba area,” the center said.

“It is also mentioned that the proposed train tunnel track within this project falls under the track of the cable car lines that were approved last year as a Qatari infrastructure project, which connects Western Jerusalem with the sanctuary under the pretext of facilitating the arrival of Jewish tourists,” they added.