The Israeli forces' bulldozers started scraping the courtyards of Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in order to establish a tourism route, the Director of the Ibrahimi Mosque Sheikh Hafthi Abu Sneineh stated Wednesday. He added in remarks to KUNA through a phone call that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil city underwent a series of attacks including the latest scraping operations to install an electric lift close to the mosque to facilitate the entry of disabled Jewish settlers. "This is considered a desecration and Judiazation of the Ibrahimi Mosque," Abu Sneineh affirmed. Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Endowments, represented by Al-Khalil Endowments General Administration, sent official memoranda to humanitarian and human rights international organizations, led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which considered the Ibrahimi Mosque on the list of cultural heritage "The Israeli occupation is enforcing their power, tyranny, and dominance on the sanctities, which are considered the exclusive right of Muslims," Abu Sneineh added. The Israeli occupation seizure of historical sites close to the Ibrahimi Mosque is part of the Jewish settlement scheme, and also withdrawing construction and planning Al-Khalil municipality and granting it to occupation civil administrations, Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Endowments and Religious Affairs added in a statement. Last April, an Israeli court rejected a Palestinian inquiry to renew the construction of an electric lift in the Ibrahimi Mosque. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called for "saving the Ibrahimi Mosque before it is too late." In 2017, UNESCO, listed Al-Khalil-(Hebron) — located south of the West Bank, in the World Heritage List, and the Ibrahimi Mosque was also placed in the list of endangered sites. The Israeli occupation forces divided the Ibrahimi Mosque between Muslims and Jews, following the massacre committed by an extremist named Baruch Goldstein in 1994, when he shot worshipers while they were performing the dawn prayer, killing 29 Palestinians and injuring other 150 others. The Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz had approved on June 10 the implementation of a project to install an electric elevator and build a road to facilitate access for settlers with special needs to the Ibrahimi Mosque. The project entails seizing the lands surrounding the mosque. According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Gantz instructed the Israeli coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories to issue a building permit for the project and conclude a contract with a contractor to start work and complete the relevant procedures. On May 3, 2020, then-Defense Minister and current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had approved an expropriation order to seize some areas adjacent to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to install the electric elevator. According to the Palestinians, the new project will strengthen Israeli control over the Ibrahimi Mosque, which is believed to have been built on the tomb of the Prophet Ibrahim. They believe the Israeli project will alter the architectural and historical features of the site. The decision to go ahead with the project appears to violate the Hebron Protocol, signed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel in 1997, which conferred the planning authority in the city to the PA. The new project has provoked Palestinians and could ignite the situation on the ground in Hebron, where popular movements against the project have already started. Political forces and national activists in the Hebron governorate issued a call on June 16 to confront Israel's attacks and protect the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Old City. — Agencies
