AhlulBayt News Agency: Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have prevented Muslim worshippers from accessing the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil for the eighth consecutive day.
In a statement issued Friday, the Al-Khalil Endowments said: “The Israeli occupation authorities continue to close the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of Al-Khalil for the eighth consecutive day and prevent prayers from being held there.” The Mosque, one of the most sacred Islamic sites in the occupied West Bank, remains under full Israeli control.
Located in Al-Khalil’s Old City, the Ibrahimi Mosque has long been the site of systematic restrictions. The area is home to about 400 Israeli settlers guarded by approximately 1,500 IOF troops. Since the 1994 massacre by a Jewish fanatic, which killed 29 Palestinian worshippers, the occupying state unilaterally divided the Mosque—allocating 63% of it to Jewish settlers and 37% to Muslim worshippers. The loudspeaker for the call to prayer is now located in the Israeli-controlled section.
The closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque and restrictions on Muslim worshippers are seen by Palestinians as part of a broader policy of religious repression and ethnic control, particularly in Al-Khalil, where apartheid-like conditions prevail.
The IOF had intensified its lockdown on the West Bank amid its ongoing aggression against Iran.
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