NEW DELHI: Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an international body of Muslim nations on Wednesday strongly condemn Israel of opening a tunnel, called “the Pilgrimage Road” beneath a Palestinian neighbourhood in east Jerusalem.
The pan-Islamic organization, which groups 57 Muslim countries called it an “irresponsible move”, that seeks “to alter the historic and legal status” of east Jerusalem, The Associated Press reported.
Israeli officials opened the tunnel Sunday that runs beneath Silwan village, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in attendance with U.S. and Israeli officials.
It is reported to be a 2,000-year-old underground route that led to the Jewish Temple, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is now located.
The site in Israeli-controlled has proved a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel views the whole of Jerusalem as its capital while the Palestinians see the eastern part as the capital of their future state.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, in which Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and Masjid al-Nabawi in Madina.