Hawzah News Agency- Israeli Nature and Parks Authority forces demolished several graves inside a Palestinian cemetery in occupied East Quds on Tuesday morning, according to local sources.

Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the director of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, told that forces from the Nature and Parks Authority raided the Bab al-Rahma cemetery -- which runs along the eastern wall of Quds's Old City -- and demolished six Palestinian graves and crumbling tombstones.

According to al-Kiswani, the authorities claimed the graves and gravestones were constructed on “confiscated land” belonging to the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority.

Al-Kiswani countered the claim, citing official documents that state the graves that were demolished were owned by the al-Husseini and al-Ansari families.

Al-Kiswani highlighted past efforts of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority to confiscate parts of the cemetery’s land, and to prohibit Palestinians from digging grave plots in the so-called “confiscated zones,” as part of a larger aim to turn the area into a tourism park surrounding the Old City.

Mahmoud al-Habbash, a Palestinian Authority (PA) adviser on religious and Islamic affairs, condemned Tuesday’s grave demolitions in a statement.  

Al-Habbash called the demolitions a sign of “Israeli political confusion” following the recent UNESCO resolution denouncing Israeli violations at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound that cause a political and media uproar in Israel.

Al-Habbash added that the demolitions were “a crime that Israel must be punished for, in accordance with international law.” He stressed the sanctity of the the Bab al-Rahma cemetery, as it is considered an Islamic heritage site and part of the Al-Aqsa compound.