No Israeli damage to al-Aqsa manuscripts following unrest, says Jerusalem Islamic Endowment

Waqf released the findings of their investigation on Thursday which showed all documents and materials of historical value have not been stolen by Israeli forces.

This challenged earlier statements from the chairman of the International Jerusalem Centre, Hassan Khater, who said that the Israeli army had stolen important documents from the mosque during unrest last month.

But the report says that the Israeli army had damaged the products used to maintain the documents.

They had also carried “unjustified searches” and had hacked into the computers of the manuscripts. There are suspicions that Israelis made copies of the files saved on the computer.

The announcement comes over a fortnight after Waqf announced the formation of four committees to assess the damage Israeli forces may have caused on Islam’s third holiest site.

Reports of the formation of the committee were announced by Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Adnan Husseini, who told Ramallah based Sawt Falesteen radio station on Monday that the committees will compile a report on the damages caused inside al-Aqsa during its closure.

Husseini reportedly added that the final stage of the project will be to charge Israeli authorities in international courts if any changes were made.

Civil disobedience

For 12 days and nights, Palestinians in Jerusalem initiated a mass campaign of civil disobedience in defiance of Israeli security measures, widely viewed as an attempt to assert control over the holy site.

In addition to boycotting entry to al-Aqsa, thousands led sit-in protests and held daily prayers in the Old City, filling the streets with worshipers.

With Palestinians in Jerusalem politically leaderless, the mass non-violent movement was led by religious leaders and community organisers.