An Israeli newspaper reported on Tuesday evening that the Israeli occupation has transferred “authority” over the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron, southern occupied West Bank, from the Palestinian Hebron Municipality to the religious council of the Kiryat Arba settlement.
According to Israel Hayom, “This is big news for the settlement project — in an unprecedented historic move, a major change has been decided regarding the status quo of the Cave of the Patriarchs,” which is the Hebrew name for the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The report explained that this step consists of “the Israeli Civil Administration stripping the Palestinian Hebron Municipality of its powers and transferring them to the Kiryat Arba-Hebron religious council.”
While the newspaper did not clarify the exact nature of these powers, it stated that the move aims to “push forward structural modifications at the site.”
This marks the first time that such fundamental changes have been made to the Ibrahimi Mosque since the so-called “Shamgar Committee” decisions in 1994, according to the paper.
At that time, the committee recommended dividing the Ibrahimi Mosque, allocating 63% for Jews and 37% for Muslims.
This division followed the massacre committed by the settler Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Palestinians while they were performing Fajr (dawn) prayers.
The paper indicated that the Civil Administration has long sought to implement significant changes to the Ibrahimi Mosque.
These changes reportedly include, among other things, reconstructing the mosque’s roof and building a new covering for the “Jacob’s Courtyard,” where Jews pray 90% of the year, according to the report.
The Ibrahimi Mosque is located in Hebron’s Old City, which remains under Israeli control and is home to around 400 settlers guarded by roughly 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
Last month, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Muhammad Najm, and Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin reaffirmed that the mosque will remain Islamic despite the aggression of the occupation and its settlers. The Ministry of Endowments and all national institutions will continue to protect it from occupation attempts.
The minister and governor stressed the importance of uniting all official and grassroots institutions to confront the Judaization policy targeting the Ibrahimi Mosque. They affirmed that the mosque will remain purely Islamic no matter how intense the measures become, and that all occupation plans will fail.
The Ministry stated that Israeli authorities prevented the call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque 89 times during last June and closed it to worshippers and visitors for 12 consecutive days.
