The Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was closed to Muslim worship on Wednesday, 16 September, on the grounds of Jewish holidays. The measure is expected to remain in effect until Thursday evening.
Palestine’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned the decision by Israeli forces to close the mosque to worshippers on Wednesday and Thursday. The ministry called on international organizations and human rights groups to intervene urgently.
Mutaz Abu Sneineh, director of the Ibrahimi Mosque, described the closure as part of a tense environment amid ongoing attempts to seize the remaining sections of the holy site.
Abu Sneineh said the entire mosque, including its corridors and courtyards, belongs to Muslims. He described the measure as an overt attack on freedom of worship guaranteed by international conventions.
The ministry called on the international community to take action to protect the Ibrahimi Mosque and guarantee Muslim access to the holy site.
History of the arrangement governing use of the Ibrahimi Mosque
The current arrangement governing use of the Ibrahimi Mosque was established after the attack on 5 February 1994. Baruch Goldstein, an extremist right-wing Jewish settler, opened fire in the mosque during the dawn prayer in Ramadan, killing 29 Palestinians.
Israeli authorities divided the mosque into two sections after the incident. Sixty-three percent of the mosque was designated for Jewish use, including the central inner courtyard and access to the tombs of some prophets, while 37 percent was allocated for Muslim worship.
Israel later stripped the Hebron municipality of its planning authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque. The decision came after the municipality rejected Israeli demands to close the mosque’s courtyard, arguing that doing so would facilitate the issuance of construction permits.
On 16 June, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that the 1997 agreement on the administrative governance of Hebron had been annulled. Following this development, the Hebron municipality’s civil planning, zoning and construction powers in the H2 area were transferred to the Israeli Civil Administration.
Those administrative powers also cover the Ibrahimi Mosque. Smotrich described the move as a “historic correction” aimed at annexing the city.
