Fatah Libel: Israel "excavates tunnels under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in order to search for what it calls the alleged ‘Solomon’s Temple’"
Headline: “Zaki: The Israeli government is committing racial discrimination, it is the most extremist [government] in its history”
“Fatah Movement Central Committee member [and Fatah Commissioner for Arab and China Relations] Abbas Zaki said that the time has passed for condemning what is happening in Palestine and Jerusalem, and that there is no more benefit in flowery speeches of solidarity with the Palestinian people. He added that we must translate this solidarity into actions on the grounds with other means that will force the Israeli occupation to recognize our legitimate and inalienable rights…
He added that… the Israeli occupation… is continuing to excavate tunnels under the holy sites, and especially under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in order to search for what it calls the alleged ‘Solomon’s Temple’ (sic., Israel does not excavate under the Temple Mount)…
Zaki noted that the phase that the Arab nation, and the Palestinian people in particular, are in is most dangerous due to the shameful haste for official Arab normalization with the Zionist entity, in a public and scandalous manner (refers to Abraham Accords; see note below -Ed.)…
Zaki emphasized that, more than 74 years after the issuing of the [UN] partition resolution (see note below -Ed.) and 54 years after the occupation of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip (i.e., the 1967 Six Day War), the Palestinian people is continuing to stand firm on our land and is continuing its struggle. He added that it will continue its struggle and resistance to the occupation and will not abandon one grain of its soil and its homeland.”
Excavations under the Temple Mount - The Israeli daily Haaretz has stated 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]
Israeli peace agreements with the UAE and Bahrain (the Abraham Accords), Sudan, Morocco, and Bhutan – an agreement normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was announced on Aug. 13, 2020, under the mediation of US President Donald Trump. Following the UAE, Bahrain reached a similar peace agreement with Israel, as was announced on Sept. 11, 2020. The agreements were signed at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020, by Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. Pursuant to the Abraham Accords, Israel and the UAE will discuss bilateral cooperation on a number of topics. In exchange for the agreement, Israel agreed to suspend its previously announced plans to apply Israel's civilian law to parts of Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley as per the Trump peace plan. The US announced that “Muslims throughout the world who wish to come in peace to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, will now be able to fly to Tel Aviv through Abu Dhabi to do so and will be welcomed.”
On Oct. 23, 2020, Sudan also formally agreed to normalize relations with Israel. Israel reached similar normalization agreements with Morocco on Dec. 10, 2020, and Bhutan on Dec. 12, 2020.
UN Resolution 181 (the UN partition plan for Palestine) was passed by the UN General Assembly in 1947. It called for the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as a separate entity under the rule of a special international body. The Arab state was meant to be comprised of the western Galilee, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and the remaining territory of the Mandate west of the Jordan River would be the state of Israel - Jordan (known at the time as Transjordan) had already been established in what had been the part of the Mandate that was east of the Jordan River. The resolution was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, but Arab leaders and governments rejected it, and launched a war to destroy Israel.