On Sunday, Israeli military units entered several locations in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarm governorate, including the Banat Yaqub shrine, and affixed notices declaring the site now falls under the jurisdiction of Israel’s Antiquities Authority.
Palestinian news agency WAFA described the shrine as a two‑storey structure: a lower floor dating to the Roman period and an upper floor from the Mamluk era, featuring domes, a prayer room and a basement that leads to the ground level. In front of the building stand two stone‑built pools and two Roman‑era structures, while a modern adjacent building known as Al‑Fakhara houses a pottery kiln linked to contemporary pottery production.
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The Palestinian Ministry responded by calling for an urgent intervention, condemning the Israeli move as a breach of Palestinian cultural heritage rights.
