One side of a wall in the Temple Mount compound – completely visible to Western Wall worshippers – collapsed on Tuesday, uncovering an area of some 40 square meters of dirt and fill.

One side of a wall in the Temple Mount compound – completely visible to worshippers at the Western Wall – collapsed on Tuesday, uncovering an area of some 40 square meters of dirt and fill. The wall belongs to the Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount, a building to the right and above the worshipers at the Western Wall, identified by a small gray dome.

Archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, a member of the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities, said that the collapse is connected with the illegal construction works being carried out on the Temple Mount by the Moslem Waqf. Speaking with Yisrael Medad on Arutz-7’s “Freedom of Broadcast” program, Dr. Mazar said that these works have been ongoing for many years without supervision by either the Planning and Construction authorities or the Antiquities Authority.

“No one is concerned about preserving the ancient compound,” she said, “nor has anyone mapped, surveyed or buttressed the hollow areas under the Temple Mount and under the mosques… It is frightening to think of this collapse, and of what could happen in the future when many tens of thousands of people visit the Temple Mount, and tractors and trucks – and all of this atop hollow areas that have never been professionally checked. This collapse should be a warning bell. If a catastrophe occurs, the whole world will blame Israel.”

She said that opening the compound to Jewish visitors is “just the beginning; pressure must be exerted in order that the supervisory authorities do what they are supposed to. The press must get involved in this cause.”

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