An Israeli bulldozer is demolishing a wall at the Palestinian cemetery of al-Yusufiya in al-Quds, December 20, 2020. (File photo by Anadolu)

Ramallah, November 1 (RHC)-- In a statement released Sunday, the Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority (PA) denounced in the strongest terms Israel’s continued bulldozing work -- for the seventh consecutive day -- at the al-Yusufiya Islamic Cemetery.

The ministry condemned all forms of Judaization measures, including the digging up of graves at the cemetery, which is located outside the al-Asbat Gate of al-Quds’s Old City, stressing that such attempts were aimed at obliterating the site’s historic identity, Palestine’s official Wafa news agency reported.

“It is a continuous crime committed by the inhumane” regime “of hatred and resentment,” the entity “of occupation and apartheid,” the statement further read.

Last month, Israeli authorities razed parts of the al-Yusufiya Cemetery to pave the way for building a biblical national park on the site of the graveyard.  The leveling works occurred after an Israeli court approved an order by the Israeli municipality of al-Quds to resume the flattening of the cemetery, which had been suspended for some time.  The court order bars Palestinian Muslims from digging new graves in the cemetery, a move which is part of the overall Judaization of al-Quds.

Palestinian, Jordanian, and Iraqi people martyred by Israeli militias during the 1967 war in Palestine were buried in the al-Yusufiya Cemetery, which is one of the most prominent Islamic landmarks in al-Quds.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday slammed this crime and other violations as among the crimes against humanity punishable at international courts and under international law.  It also stressed that such crimes require immediate international action to hold those involved accountable.  The ministry also emphasized that the Israeli operation at the al-Yusufiya Cemetery is yet another solid piece of evidence of the human and moral degradation of those behind such a heinous crime.  It further stressed that chasing Palestinians to their graves is the absolute worst form of crimes.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds. All the settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.