JERUSALEM, Sept 29: Israel will soon open to the public an underground archaeological site near Jerusalem’s most sensitive shrine, an official said on Thursday, in an area where inauguration of an exhibit in 1996 led to bloodshed.

The Jewish ritual bath, dating to the first century, will be opened at a site running parallel to Judaism’s Western Wall in the Israeli-annexed Old City of Jerusalem. Palestinians have long opposed Israeli excavations in the area, citing dangers to the foundations of Haram Sharif.

In 1996, Israel’s opening of an archaeological tunnel near Haram Sharif sparked Palestinian violence in which 61 Arabs and 15 Israeli soldiers were killed.

Adnan Husseini, director of the Palestinian trust administering Haram Sharif, voiced opposition to the new site.

“Excavations are dangerous for the mosques’ structures,” he said. “Such moves are also illegal.”

Arieh Banner, an official with Israel’s Western Wall Heritage Foundation, said the ritual bath did not run under Haram Sharif or endanger the shrine.

“This is a very important discovery from the second (Jewish) Temple period and we hope to open this to the public within the next month to two months,” Mr Banner said.

“We would not do anything in the direction of the Temple Mount,” he said, adding the site was 60 to 70 metres from the Western Wall. —Reuters