"A report carried by the "Israeli" newspaper Maariv that "Israel" had contacted the British government to inspect a biblical shrine near Sidon, has stirred angry reactions from Muslim officials in the city."

"According to the newspaper, "Israel" says that the domed shrine contains the grave of Zevolon bin Yaacoub, one of Prophet Yaccoub’s 12 sons, and has appealed to the British Foreign Office to contact its embassy in Beirut to inspect the site."

"But the Islamic Waqf, or religious endowment authority, said Tuesday that the grave in question was that of a Muslim prophet and had belonged to the Waqf for more than 200 years."

“We have deeds to prove it,” Sheikh Salim Soussane, the head of the Islamic Waqf in Sidon, told The Daily Star. “Local residents have been renovating the shrine for the past few weeks. They have planted trees and are rebuilding the road leading to it.”

“The Islamic Waqf approved these renovation works, which have been financed by the residents themselves. We wonder how "Israel" dares to claim that it belongs to them when it has been occupying the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem which belongs to millions of Muslims?” he inquired.

"The man responsible for the upkeep of the shrine, Mohammed Awkal, said Muslims had used it as a place of worship since before most of Lebanon’s Jewish community left the country in the 1940s." “Muslims used to hold Friday prayers there. People would bring food and spend the day at the shrine".

The shrine consists of a domed one-room mausoleum standing on an area of land covering some 2,000 square meters.

Lebanese researchers insist that the man buried in the shrine is not Zevolon bin Yaacoub, the son of Prophet Yaacoub, but Sidoun bin Yaacoub, a Muslim holy man.

“Zevolon bin Yaacoub was killed in the 40-year exodus from Egypt in the desert. Youshaa bin Noun and Caleb bin Youhanna were the only survivors of the apostles’ descent,” researchers Ahmad Bashir, Walid Hashisho and Joseph Abboud write in their book entitled “Sidon’s Archeological Sites”.

The Sunni Mufti of Southern Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammed Salim Jalaleddine told The Daily Star that "Israel's" claims to the property were baseless.

“We have documents to prove that the shrine belongs to the Islamic Waqf. The "Israeli" allegations are utter lies and we should be aware of such maneuvers,” Sheikh Jalaleddine said.

“I have called on in the past and I renew my call now for the Lebanese government to confiscate the property of Lebanese Jews who hold "Israeli" citizenship, because they are now fighting against Muslims.

“Since 1948, "Israel" has confiscated the properties of many Lebanese in occupied Palestine,” Sheikh Jalaleddine said.