Digging said damaging Second Temple

JERUSALEM, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Israeli archaeologists say that digging to replace old electrical cables on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is damaging the remains of the Second Temple.

The Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount plans to ask the High Court of Justice next week to halt the work, The Jerusalem Post reports. The work is being carried out by the Islamic Trust, which administers the Temple Mount, with the approval of the Antiquities Trust and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"The Israeli government is lending a hand to the destruction of one of the most important archaeological sites in the world," said Gabriel Barkai of Bar-Ilan University at a news conference Thursday in Jerusalem.

The committee says that a 21-foot-wide wall that was probably part of the Second Temple has been damaged by heavy construction machinery.

The Temple Mount, site of the Jewish Temple, is Judaism’s most holy site and one of the holiest in Islam with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Under current regulations, the Israeli government is responsible for security and the Islamic Trust for administration.