Israeli settler council seizes control of historic Ibrahimi Mosque in West Bank

Middle East Eye

5 days ago

Israeli authorities have stripped the Palestinian-run Hebron municipality of administrative powers over the Ibrahimi Mosque and transferred them to a settler religious council, the Israel Hayom daily reported on Tuesday.
Describing the move as a "historic and unprecedented change", the newspaper said Israeli authorities plan to make "structural changes" at the site.
The Ibrahimi compound - known to Israelis as the Cave of the Patriarchs - was split into a mosque and synagogue following the 1994 massacre of dozens of Palestinian worshippers at the hands of American-Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein.
The report said that "this is the most dramatic work to be done at the site since 1994, as part of a fundamental changes taking place at the site".
Local Palestinians say the Israeli government has been slowly chipping away at Palestinian influence over the site, which, as the believed burial place of the prophet Abraham, is the second-holiest place in Judaism.
For the first time this year, Israeli authorities also refused to hand over all sections of the mosque to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, as is customary on the Friday of Ramadan. The move marked a significant departure from past practice.
A picture shows the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on 16 March 2024. (AFP)