Israel Prevents Maintenance Works at Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque

Hebron, MINA – Israeli occupation army on Sunday prevented staff of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) from conducting maintenance works at the archeological Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, according to the director of the mosque, Hefzi Abu Sneineh, WAFA reported.

He told WAFA that Israeli soldiers denied access of the HRC staff to the mosque and ordered a halt on the ordinary maintenance works at the holy site.

Abu Sneineh said the latest Israeli measure was part of a systematic policy aimed at Judaizing the character of the mosque by banning any maintenance works and limiting access of Palestinians to the site, while allowing Jewish fanatics to flock there.

Israeli occupation authorities last week ordered a 10-day ban on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the site under the pretext of the coronavirus restrictions.

The mosque’s director told WAFA in a statement last week that Israel’s pretext was baseless since all worshipers and visitors have been following up the health and safety protocols of wearing face-masks and social distancing.

Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas on religious affairs and Islamic relations, Mahmoud al-Habbash had also described Israel’s lockdown of the holy site as an inclusive war crime, saying that banning worshipers access to the site could fuel the sentiments of Muslims around the world.

He stressed in a statement last week that the Israeli decision was an interference into the powers of the Palestinian Waqf (Endowments) Department, which is in charge of holy sites in Palestine, as well as a breach of the UNESCO’s decision which considers the Ibrahimi Mosque as a pure Islamic site.(T/R3/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)