TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Mugrabi Gate update:

Israel Begins Renovation Near Disputed Holy Site
Associated Press

JERUSALEM, Feb 6 - With dozens of policemen looking on, an Israeli bulldozer began work on an archaeological excavation next to the Holy Land's most explosive religious site Tuesday, drawing Palestinian protests and condemnations from the Arab world.

Muslims are angry at Israel's plan to build a new walkway up to the compound where Islamic tradition says Muhammad ascended to heaven and which Jews revere as the site of their two ancient temples. Israel says the project is needed to replace a centuries-old earthen ramp that partially collapsed in a snowstorm three years ago. Its assurances that the work would cause no harm to Islam's holy sites did little to soothe tensions.

Palestinian leaders harshly condemned the project, and Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in several areas of Jerusalem and the West Bank. No injuries were reported.

"What is happening is an aggression," Mohammed Hussein, the top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, told the Gaza Strip radio station of the Hamas militant movement. "We call on the Palestinian people to unite and unify the efforts to protect Jerusalem."

The small dig is 50 yards (meters) away from the walls of the hilltop compound in Jerusalem's Old City known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Palestinians and Israelis have clashed there in the past.

The dig is meant to ensure that no important artifacts are damaged by the walkway's construction, which is expected to be completed in eight months. Such exploratory digs are required by Israeli law in the ancient city.

"The construction of the bridge, located in its entirety outside the Temple Mount, has no impact on the Mount itself and certainly poses no danger to it," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said.

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