Israel bans dawn call to prayer at Ibrahimi Mosque for 8th day running

The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs said on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation authority in Hebron has banned, for the eighth consecutive day, the dawn call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

The ministry denounced the Israeli army for persisting in banning the call to prayer at the mosque, describing the measure as a “dangerous development aimed at suppressing the performance of Islamic acts of worship at the mosque as a prelude to completely banning them in the future.”

It warned further of the gravity of Israel’s escalation of its violations at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the centre of Hebron, pointing out that the Israeli army barred a foreign diplomatic delegation from entering the Islamic holy site on Monday. This, said the ministry, was an attempt to prevent the visitors from seeing the Judaisation and desecration within the mosque, much of which has been taken over spatially and temporally by illegal Jewish settlers.

Indeed, hundreds of settlers desecrated the Ibrahimi Mosque last night. They held a boisterous concert that involved singing and dancing. The ministry stressed the need for international action to put an end to Israel’s violations at the mosque and enable the Palestinians to restore their presence and authority over the Islamic holy site.

The International Court of Justice ruled in July that Israel’s occupation is illegal and the UN General Assembly voted overwhelming earlier this month to demand that Israel should end its occupation within twelve months.

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