Palestinians warn of escalating Israeli violations against Ibrahimi Mosque

The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs has warned of the escalating violations by the Israeli occupation army and settlers against the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank.

In a statement issued yesterday to mark the 31st anniversary of the Ibrahimi massacre, when in 1994, extremist Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein attacked Palestinian worshippers at the mosque, killing 29 people and injuring 150 others, the ministry said the Ibrahimi Mosque was subjected to 197 violations by the Israeli occupation army and settlers last year. These include preventing the call to prayer (athan) 674 times and banning Muslim worshippers from entry for ten days.

The occupation authorities have also carried out excavations and extended a sewage line in the mosque’s courtyards.

Last year, only 236,530 Muslim worshippers visited the mosque which is far less than the annual average, the ministry said.

The occupation army has also intensified restrictions around the mosque, increasing the number of checkpoints, closing all its entrances except one, putting further obstacles before worshippers trying to reach it and creating a state of fear among them.

These restrictions have also affected the number of tourists visiting the mosque which dropped last year to only 12,663.

More than 3,381 Israeli occupation soldiers stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque last year, it added, calling on international and legal institutions to shoulder their responsibilities and hold Israel accountable for its crimes against mosques and places of worship.

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