The Israeli far-right government spares no opportunity to assert control over Palestinian territories, including Islamic holy sites, as part of its systematic strategy to Judaise them. Its latest move came through the Israeli military’s Central Command — which oversees the occupied West Bank — by stripping the Palestinian Hebron Municipality of its supervisory powers over the Ibrahimi Mosque (Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi).
The mosque is among the most sensitive and volatile religious sites in the Middle East due to its deep Islamic significance and historical importance. In a dramatic and unprecedented step since the 1994 massacre carried out by the extremist settler Baruch Goldstein — which left dozens of Palestinians dead or wounded — control over the mosque was transferred to the religious council of the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.
A “Dramatic” Decision to Deepen Judaization
Hanan Greenwood, settlement affairs correspondent for Israel Hayom, described the decision as “dramatic” in the ongoing process of Judaizing the West Bank. He noted that the move reflects the continued push by the Civil Administration — a branch of Israel’s Ministry of Defence controlled by far-right Minister Bezalel Smotrich — to implement sweeping changes in the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Among those plans is a controversial roofing project aimed at constructing a dedicated cover for settlers’ prayer space in what they call “Jacob’s Courtyard,” to allow year-round worship in harsh weather. This plan is just one of several measures settlers are demanding, including full administrative and logistical control over the site.
The settler-affiliated Channel 7 confirmed that a high-level meeting chaired by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant led to a formal decision to revoke Palestinian and Islamic Waqf authority over the site and grant full supervisory control to the Kiryat Arba religious council, marking the first time an Islamic endowment has been replaced by a settler body in managing the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Timeline of Israeli Control: From Goren to Glick
According to settlement affairs researcher Moshe Uriel, Israeli attempts to seize control of the Ibrahimi Mosque date back to the aftermath of Hebron’s occupation in 1967, when then-chief military rabbi Shlomo Goren tried to convert part of the mosque into a synagogue. Defence Minister Moshe Dayan blocked the move and removed Goren’s equipment, opting to keep the mosque under Muslim control.
Uriel explains that just two months after the city’s occupation, Jews were allowed to enter the mosque — but only during restricted hours as archaeological visitors. However, in 1969, during Passover, settlers launched a pressure campaign to change the status quo, sparking political and on-ground clashes throughout the 1970s.
In 1979, the Israeli government allowed settlers to perform religious rituals in all mosque halls and bring in Jewish religious objects — initiating a “religious division” of the site, where both Muslims and Jews began praying in the same complex.
In this context, settler leader Shai Glick declared that he has spent years “working to reclaim the Ibrahimi Mosque,” falsely claiming it is “registered in the name of the Jewish people since the Book of Genesis.” He described the transfer of supervisory authority to the Kiryat Arba council as a major step toward the full annexation of religious sites in the occupied territories.
A Breach of the Hebron Agreement and International Law
It is worth noting that the 1998 Hebron Agreement — signed between then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat — placed the Ibrahimi Mosque under the supervision of the Hebron Municipality. The latest Israeli move constitutes a direct violation of this international agreement.
In 2017, UNESCO officially listed the Ibrahimi Mosque as a Palestinian World Heritage Site, triggering Israeli outrage. Despite signing the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, Israel withdrew from the organisation in 2019 to evade its international obligations and continue its unilateral actions against Islamic holy sites.
Settler Celebration and Structural Changes Begin
Settler groups hailed the transfer of mosque supervision as a “historic” decision that paves the way for deeper structural changes. This is even though the mosque was already divided post-1994 massacre, with 63% of the space allocated to Jews and only 37% left for Muslims, in a city of over 200,000 Palestinians and fewer than 500 settlers guarded by heavily armed Israeli forces.
In recent years, the pace of Judaization has escalated through a combination of measures:
- Diminishing the role of the Islamic Waqf
- Banning the call to prayer on specific occasions
- Expanding settler access and ritual presence inside the mosque
The new decision allows for changes previously prohibited, including installing a roof, air-conditioning, and additional infrastructure to facilitate unrestricted visits by hundreds of thousands of settlers from inside and outside Israel.
According to Israel’s Ministry of Infrastructure, a multi-stage plan is already underway to build permanent shade structures over the mosque’s courtyard, funded and directed by Israel’s political leadership to serve “Jewish worshippers,” as they claim.
Surveillance, Keys, and the Dismantling of Islamic Authority
Haaretz quoted Hebron’s coordination and liaison office head, Druze officer Ayman Bisan, as warning the city’s governor that the municipality’s powers would soon be transferred to Israel’s Supreme Planning Council. Under the new order, the Islamic Waqf would no longer have access to surveillance camera keys — a right it previously held.
Legally, the Ibrahimi Mosque remains under Islamic Waqf administration and within the Hebron Municipality’s jurisdiction. However, settlers continue to treat it — along with Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus — as part of what they falsely label “Jewish heritage,” ignoring both demographic realities and international legal frameworks.
Another Al-Aqsa in the Making
The recent Israeli decisions have prompted Palestinian officials in Hebron to form a legal task force to confront the mosque takeover. Mosque director Moataz Ibrahim described the decision as a “blatant assault” on one of Islam’s most treasured religious and historical landmarks:
“We were shocked by a move that violates every international agreement. After carving up 63% of the mosque’s space post-1994 massacre, the occupation is now seeking to completely eliminate Islamic supervision and presence.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of “grave consequences,” calling the move a dangerous precedent in the accelerated Judaization of the mosque. The ministry urged UNESCO and the global community to intervene immediately, describing the decision as a breach of international law and relevant UN resolutions.
Palestinian Minister of Waqf, Hatim Al-Bakri, condemned the settler incursions into the mosque as “a crime and a desecration of a sacred site,” noting that settlers perform Talmudic rituals in inappropriate attire with full political backing — a transparent attempt to establish full control.
The Israeli left-wing group Emek Shaveh warned that this decision represents a “gradual erosion” of the status quo. It reminded me that settlers had already violated this balance two years ago by building a private elevator to access the mosque, despite objections from the Waqf and Hebron Municipality. The current step, they warned, marks the next stage in Israel’s systematic dismantling of Palestinian oversight.
Rights groups fear this model may be replicated at Al-Aqsa Mosque, with unilateral changes designed to eventually legitimise the transfer of authority away from Jordanian and Palestinian custodians to settler religious councils — part of Israel’s long-term plan to reconfigure religious sovereignty in the occupied territories.
Exploiting the War on Gaza
This latest Israeli decision is a clear exploitation of the ongoing war on Gaza. Settlers are using the distraction to impose new realities — gradually transforming the Ibrahimi Mosque into a fully “Jewish heritage site,” just as they did with the Al-Buraq Wall in Jerusalem, which they now call the “Western Wall.”
Political analyst Shalom Yerushalmi wrote for Zman Israel that the move reflects intensifying settlement activity in Hebron — evidenced by the mass arrival of settlers to the mosque, accompanied by prominent Israeli ministers including Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Strook, Miki Zohar, Zeev Elkin, and others. Their presence signals formal political adoption of the plan to alter the mosque’s status.
Yisrael Ramson, head of the Kiryat Arba settlement, revealed that several ministers had informed him of “upcoming surprises” concerning the mosque, claiming “the time has come to change the absurd situation” in which Muslims pray in “Isaac’s Hall,” while other halls remain open to Jews year-round.
Ramson argued that three decades after Supreme Court Chief Justice Meir Shamgar’s 1994 prayer division rulings, it is time to cancel those arrangements and impose full Jewish control over all halls named after “Abraham and Sarah,” “Jacob and Leah,” and “Isaac and Rebecca.”
Greenlight for Structural Violations
The report revealed severe military breaches. The commander of the Israeli “Yehuda Brigade,” Yishai Rosilio, reportedly authorized construction work inside the mosque without approval from Central Command. Senior officers considered the move a serious security violation, but the political leadership later retroactively legitimized it.
Far-right circles in Israel openly aim to exploit the current political climate — under a government described as “fascist” — alongside the Gaza war and a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House, to cement full Jewish control over the mosque. Several senior Trump-era officials, including former Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Evangelical Pastor Mike Huckabee, have all publicly backed this agenda — claiming that “every inch of Palestine is a divine promise to the people of Israel.”
A Plan to “Nationalize” the Ibrahimi Mosque
Likud MK Avichai Boron has openly called for the “nationalisation” of the Ibrahimi Mosque, describing the current moment as “a historic opportunity” — especially if Trump returns to office. He stated:
“The Ibrahimi Mosque issue is complicated. Ownership legally belongs to the Islamic Waqf. Any change is equivalent to declaring a world war. Even a two-metre elevator remains banned. But now is the time to seize full control and convert it into a Jewish heritage site.”
Religious Zionism party MK Tzvi Sukkot also called for dismantling the post-Goldstein massacre arrangements and demanded “dramatic changes” in the mosque’s logistical and administrative control — despite its legal status as an Islamic waqf. Sukkot, head of the Knesset subcommittee on the West Bank, is leading intense discussions about the mosque’s future.
For the settler movement, the Ibrahimi Mosque represents a key milestone in fulfilling Bezalel Smotrich’s vision for 2025 — the year he declared as the beginning of Israel’s full annexation of the West Bank.
Settlement spokesperson Naum Arnon — who has researched the mosque for over 30 years — admitted:
“This is a complex issue. We won’t achieve a full transformation overnight, but it’s worth trying.”
Provocation, Eviction, and Demographic Manipulation
Settlers have escalated their provocations — celebrating religious festivals like Purim outside the mosque in costumes that glorify Goldstein and chanting incitement songs, all under heavy military protection.
The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem documented severe movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on Palestinians near the mosque, making daily life “impossible” and forcing families to leave their homes and businesses.
Judaization policies now extend to private property, with settlers seeking control of Palestinian homes through dubious legal claims and alleged purchases. Settler leader Rabbi Shlomo Levinger confirmed that dozens of settler families have moved into Palestinian homes using permits issued under former Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.
