Today, Wednesday, the Israeli authorities began closing the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of the city of Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, to Muslims for a period of 4 days, and opening it to settlers on the occasion of the celebration of two Jewish holidays.
The director of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Moataz Abu Sneineh, said that the Israeli occupation authorities began closing the Ibrahimi Mosque today due to the Sukkot and Yom Kippur holidays.
Abu Sneineh added that the occupation usually opens the Ibrahimi Mosque with all its sections to settlers after closing it to Muslims, where the settlers hold Talmudic prayers and noisy parties, and the closure continues until next Saturday evening, as he put it.
The celebration of the so-called Yom Kippur begins on Thursday evening, during which settlers’ raids on Islamic religious and historical sites increase, including the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
As for Sukkot, it comes after Yom Kippur, during which hundreds of settlers usually storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the Israeli police keep the worshipers away.
It is noteworthy that the Ibrahimi Mosque is located in the Old City of Hebron, which is under Israeli control, and about 400 settlers live there, guarded by about 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
Since 1994, Israel has divided the Ibrahimi Mosque into 63% for Jews and 37% for Muslims, following a massacre committed by a settler that resulted in the death of 29 worshipers, while the part designated for Jews is located in the call to prayer room.
