TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH - The A.P. has a piece on the Waqf's latest excavation:

Dig at Jerusalem Site Brings Ire

Wednesday August 29, 2007 8:46 PM

By SARAH EL DEEB

Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday criticized the extension of an underground cable at Jerusalem's holiest site for Muslims and Jews, saying that digging the trench defies professional standards for such a sensitive historic site and could damage Bible-era relics.

Islamic authorities responsible for the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, said the digging is necessary infrastructure work at the site to replace 40-year-old electrical cables ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is home to Al Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, Islam's third-holiest shrine. It is also the holiest site in Judaism: Archaeological finds show that the remains of the temples are beneath the mosque compound, although Muslim clerics dispute that.

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On the last point, see here and here.

Story background here.

UPDATE: Here's an interesting tidbit from a Reuters article carried on Ynetnews:

[Archaeologist Gabriel] Barkay said earth from the trench contained pottery shards dating to the Byzantine period. He cautioned that more relics still underground could be harmed.

This is the first claim I've seen about specific artifacts being uncovered in the excavation.

UPDATE: Reportedly, they're still at it:

Muslims Continue Temple Mount Dig without Proper Archeological Survey

By Amihai Zippor (Israel Hasbara Committee)

(IHC News, 29 August 2007) The Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount resumed condemnations of the State-run Israel Antiquities Authority on Tuesday, 28 August 2007, after Muslims continued digging on the Temple Mount in order to modernize infrastructure.

The Waqf, the Muslim religious caretakers of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, began new non-supervised digging there to prepare a section for infrastructure work on Wednesday, 11 July 2007 and used heavy equipment, destroying sensitive ground on one of the world’s most important archeological sites.

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UPDATE: More photos and video here. (Via the BAS Newsletter.)