Police detained five members of the Wakf Islamic trust on the Temple Mount on Thursday for violating archeological laws.Again and again and again, no construction or excavation on the Temple Mount! Not even archaeology, until we have non-invasive and non-destructive technologies to do the work. Recently it has become an issue that various Jewish groups are talking about clearing off the Temple Mount and rebuilding the Temple — which is out of the question. But so far that's just talk. Let's not forget that for many years the Waqf has actually been excavating and constructing on the Temple Mount. See, for example recently, here, here, and here and follow those links. Or go to the search engine and read the endless posts on the Temple Mount Sifting Project.
According to police, the suspects erected scaffolding next to the Dome of the Rock and proceeded to make illegal structural changes without coordinating with the Antiquities Authority.
It is believed that the First and Second Temples once stood where the Dome of the Rock is located.
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I understand that experts disagree on exactly where on the the Temple Mount the Temples stood, but the third paragraph quoted above could have been phrased more robustly. Say, "The First and Second Temples stood on the Temple Mount and many specialists believe they were located where the Dome of the Rock is now." I don't think the following was the intention of the author, but as currently phrased, the sentence could be taken to say that that it is only "believed" that the Temples once existed at all. Detailed discussion of the issue is (for example) here and links.
The Jewish Press has a slightly different version of the current story, in which six people were arrested: Waqf Engineer Distanced from Temple Mount.
The engineer and five of his workers were given distancing orders from the Temple Mount for 5 days.The alleged assault of an archaeologist by Waqf personnel was noted here and here.
