Mughrabi Gate bridge declared unsafe

Jerusalem's city engineer Shlomo Eshkol sent a warning letter declaring the Mughrabi Gate bridge unsafe and demanded that it be demolished within a month and a new one erected. The bridge is the only entrance to the Temple Mount compound for tourists and non-Muslims and security personnel. Eshkol sent a letter to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation demanding the bridge be fixed saying in its current state it endangers human life. The current wooden pedestrian bridge was constructed in 2007 following a landslide in 2005. Last year the Antiquities Authority began working at the site to build a more permanent bridge but was halted due to world condemnation and unfounded claims that Israel was harming the foundations of the al-Aqsa mosque.