PA TV: Israel has attempted to harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque since 1969 arson until today; “Judaizing tunnels” meant to “normalize the Jewish presence” there
Official PA TV program Topic of the Day, on the 1969 Al-Aqsa Mosque arson
Official PA TV reporter: "Since the Al-Aqsa Mosque arson (committed by Australian Christian tourist Michael Rohan -Ed.) and to this day, the occupation authorities are attempting by all means and ways to harm the mosque by excavations underneath it (sic., Israel does not excavate under the Temple Mount). The building of the Judaizing tunnels – the inauguration of one of which senior American officials recently participated in (refers to the Pilgrimage Road; see note below –Ed.) – is meant to reduce the Islamic presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and normalize the Jewish presence at the Jerusalem Noble Sanctuary (i.e., the Temple Mount), while ignoring all of the UN resolutions that consider the Al-Aqsa Mosque a purely Islamic heritage site and a special place of worship for Muslims, as UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) has emphasized."
Michael Rohan - Australian Christian with a mental health disorder who set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. For years, the Palestinian Authority has falsely accused Israel of setting the fire.
The PA regularly claims that Israel excavates under the Temple Mount, thereby endangering the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Regarding the Temple Mount claim, the Israeli daily Haaretz has reported that the excavations do not reach beneath the mosque: "Despite complaints from the Islamic Movement and Palestinian groups, not a single dig penetrates beneath the [Temple] Mount." [Haaretz, May 24, 2016]
Pilgrimage Road – US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, US Envoy Jason Greenblatt, and US Senator Lindsey Graham took part in the inauguration ceremony of the Pilgrimage Road underground archaeological site, located south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, on June 30, 2019. The excavated road was used by Jewish pilgrims visiting the Second Temple around the first century CE, and the Arab neighborhood of Silwan has since been built above it.