On Friday, Israeli forces ordered the closure of the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
According to Hamam Abu Murkhiya, the acting director of the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, occupation forces invaded the Islamic holy site on Friday morning and forced Palestinian worshippers and the staff to evacuate.
He added that the Israeli authorities closed the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque until further notice, without any pretext for the move.
It is important to mention that Muslims across the world are celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha which commemorates the prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham) devotion to God.
He added that the army also closed all military roadblocks and electronic gates leading to the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque.
The Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs called the Israeli manoeuvre a “blatant attack” and “a serious violation of freedom of worship and a direct targeting of the right of Muslims to access their holy sites”.
The Ministry condemned the arbitrary measure describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and said that the closure of the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque is “a flagrant violation of international laws and agreements that guarantee freedom of worship and the protection of holy places at all times.”
The Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas also criticized the Israeli closure of the mosque, adding that this act must be seen in the context of the occupation’s “systematic oppression” of the Palestinian people, and its “ongoing attempts to impose new realities targeting the Arab and Islamic identity of the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and all our holy sites.”
