Activists from "The Forum for the Struggle for Every Dunam" who arrived this morning for their usual Friday prayers at Joshua's Altar discovered an explosive device had been planted between the stones of the ancient holy site.
The charge, which was described as extremely powerful, was apparently intended to be detonated during visits by Jews to the site believed to be where the Biblical Prophet Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal when the Israelites first entered the Land of Israel more than 3,000 years ago.
Security forces were called to the scene, and a bomb disposal squad neutralized the explosive.
The forum stated that the placing of an explosive at Joshua's Altar is the direct result of the lack of Jewish presence on the mountain. "The explosive device that awaited the activists this morning is another illustration of the lawlessness that takes place in the mountain area thanks to the absence of a Jewish presence."
The members of the forum accuse that "since the evacuation of the Jewish farm that guarded the ridge, the takeover efforts of the Palestinian Authority and the Arabs of the area have only gotten stronger. A number of injuries, some of them serious, occurred at the altar, new roads were paved and new Arab buildings were built on the mountain. Today, under the shadow of an advanced construction plan that will include, among other things, the area of the altar itself, terrorists planted an explosive device there in order to harm the activists and thus prevent the only permanent Jewish presence there."
"The order of the hour is to establish a permanent settlement point on the mountain, otherwise we may completely lose control of the strategic ridge," added the forum.