Judaization of the Ibrahimi Mosque .. Approval of a new project that is easy to storm

Awad al-Rajoub - Hebron

The occupation authorities are moving forward with a series of Judaizing procedures for the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron (southern West Bank), the last of which is the final approval of a project that facilitates the settlers storming the mosque.

According to Israeli media, Israeli Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett approved the confiscation of lands located alongside the Ibrahimi Mosque, which will be designated for the construction of a corridor, elevator, and bridge for settlers entering the mosque, especially for people with disabilities, and instructed the coordinator of the government's actions in the occupied territories Camille Abu Rokn to take all necessary measures to implement the project.

The Ibrahimi Mosque targeted by the settlement project is located in the area under the full occupation of Hebron, called Kh2, outside the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Acceleration of work
Bennett instructed to expedite work on the project after obtaining the approval of the judicial authorities and the political level, including the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Hebrew sources, although the land is classified as Islamic endowments.

The Israeli Minister of Defense gave the green light to establish the elevator project during the foundation stone for a new settlement neighborhood in the heart of Hebron, last February.

The occupation authorities seized the back of the Ibrahimi Mosque for the benefit of the settlers after settler Baruch Goldstein carried out a massacre against worshipers in the mosque at the dawn of February 25, 1994, a massacre that resulted in the martyrdom of 29 Palestinians and the closure of the Hebron heart of the Old City to date.

According to the Hebron Protocol in 1997, the Palestinian Authority received parts of the city of Hebron called "Kh1", and constituted 80% of the city's area, while Israeli control continued over the remaining section "Kh2", which is inhabited by about 45 thousand people, and in which the old town and the mosque are located Brahimi.

Development banner
Although the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments is responsible for overseeing the mosque, and about fifty guards, masters and staff follow up on its daily affairs, it has not received any notification of the Israeli action.

The director of the mosque, Sheikh Hafezi Abu Asnainah, says that the occupation takes every possible measure to remove the worshipers from the mosque and completely control it, explaining that the sanctuary itself and the surrounding area are under the control of the Israeli occupation.

He adds that what is happening under the name of "development", including the elevator, the bridge and the paths of intrusion, changes the features of the mosque and its reality, and its aim is to satisfy the settlers on the one hand, and to consecrate the occupation on the other hand.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Abu Asninah describes the new decision as "a blatant attack and a serious assault on the mosque and its sanctity", and added to other violations at the forefront of the ban to prevent the call to prayer tens of times a month.

Official responses
In Ramallah, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs warned of the danger of final approval of the settlement project.

Undersecretary Hossam Abu Al-Rub said that the infringement of the endowment powers continues at a great and rapid pace within the occupation attempts, warning of "malicious ambitions and intentions through which Israel is trying to completely seize the sanctuary step by step, after having seized most of it and controlled it."

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that Bennett's approval leads to a change in Arab and Islamic landmarks and the identity of the Palestinian region, and the creation of new facts that fall within the framework of a widespread Judaization process to overthrow the city of Hebron and its noble sanctuary.

She considered the army minister’s decision “the most heinous racist exploitation of the world’s and Palestinian people’s preoccupation in facing the Corona pandemic to implement this expansionist colonial scheme, as a new chapter in the ongoing Israeli targeting of the old city of Hebron, and as an extension of a hideous campaign of Judaization led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The State Department statement added that "the American bias towards the occupation and its colonial projects - which were reflected in the so-called deal of the century - gave the green light to the ruling right in Israel to continue settlement operations and violate the sanctity of Islamic and Christian sanctities."

She said that the occupation procedures require the International Criminal Court to end the state of discussion and controversy, adopt the Prosecutor’s recommendation regarding the applicability of the court’s jurisdiction to the occupied Palestinian territory, and initiate a formal investigation into the crimes of the occupation and the settlers, leading to the accountability and accountability of Israeli officials involved in these crimes.