* The plan is located on #4 - the black line.

Location
Silwan

Initiator
Elad Settlers’ Association.

Implementer
Israel Antiquities Authority.

Budget
NIS 22 million in government funding, and NIS 28 million by Elad Settlers’ Association.

Project Description
This massive tunnel is planned from the “Shiloah Pool” (Birkat Silwan – Silwan Pool in Arabic) towards the “Temple Mount”. It passes under homes in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in Silwan and crosses under the Old City Walls until the southern edge of the “Western Wall” Square.
The tunnel is a controversial archeological excavation, carried out at the initiative of the Elad Settlers’ Association. Officials at the Israel Antiquities Authority criticized the excavation, calling it “poor archeology” that failed to meet safety requirements and conditions.

Part of the tunnel’s route delves shallowly beneath Silwan. This Palestinian neighborhood sits along the East-West frontier of the city and is one of the key sites targeted by Jewish settler associations. The excavation of the tunnel takes place about 3 to 4 meters below the houses of Silwan, and it has already caused extensive damage. Since the excavation of the tunnel began, cracks have developed in many houses, collapses have occurred, and pits have opened above the excavation route. Five Palestinian families have been forced to leave their homes because of the damage.

Status
Approving Entity
A permit is not required as this is an archeological excavation.

Objections
Silwan residents, Emek Shaveh, Peace Now.

Implementation

• Since 2013, the Antiquities Authority has been conducting excavations along the route.
• In June 2019, an inauguration ceremony was held for a 200-meter section of the tunnel, attended by government ministers, elected officials, and then US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, amidst Palestinian protest.
• Following a tour guided by Elad Settlers’ Association, an article from September 2023 exposes the wide disregard and destruction of non-Jewish archeological findings along the excavation.

Map source: https://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail.aspx?id=26274