Israeli authorities have stripped the Palestinian-run Hebron municipality of administrative powers over the Ibrahimi Mosque and transferred them to a Jewish settler religious council, according to a report Tuesday by the Israel Hayom daily.
Describing the move as a “historic and unprecedented change,” the newspaper said Israel's so-called civil administration had reassigned authority over the holy site to the religious council of the Kiryat Arba settlement, adjacent to Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
The report did not specify the scope of powers transferred but said the move aims to facilitate “structural changes” at the site.
Located in the Old City of Hebron, which is under Israeli occupation, the Ibrahimi Mosque is surrounded by approximately 400 illegal Israeli settlers protected by about 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
The mosque complex is believed by Abrahamic religions to hold the remains of Prophet Abraham and his family.
Zionist terror attack
On 25 February 1994, which was also the 15th day of Ramadan, Baruch Goldstein, a Zionist terrorist, carried out a massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Goldstein entered the mosque and opened fire at praying Muslims with an automatic weapon, killing 29 and wounding about 150 others.
Later that day, during and after the funeral processions of the victims, there were violent clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and occupation forces, and more Palestinians were killed, according to the Institute for Palestine Studies.
Shamgar Commission
After the 1994 massacre, Israel divided the mosque, allocating 63 percent for Jewish worship and 37 percent for Muslims.
The prayer room for Jews is situated in the Muslim section.
It marks the first major shift in the status of the mosque since the 1994 recommendations of the Shamgar Commission, which divided access.
According to the Israel Hayom daily, the so-called civil administration has long sought to implement structural changes at the site, including roof renovations and construction over “Jacob’s Courtyard,” which serves Jewish worshippers for most of the year.
There has been no official confirmation from Israeli authorities or response from the Palestinian government to the report.
Earlier violations
In a statement issued February 26, the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs reiterated that the Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs and the Cave of Machpelah, is “an exclusive Islamic endowment” and condemned Israeli efforts to transform the mosque into a Jewish synagogue.
The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in March said that Israel has refused to fully open the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron for Muslim worshippers as is customary on Fridays during the holy month of Ramadan.
In a statement, the ministry called the move an “unprecedented and dangerous step, both in terms of scale and timing during the blessed month of Ramadan and as part of a systematic plan to obstruct the full opening of the mosque’s halls, courtyards, and corridors to Muslims.”
The ministry explained that the mosque’s handover typically occurs on "the night of Friday during Ramadan" each year, preparing for the full opening of the mosque to worshippers.
The ministry also noted that "silence about this situation means institutionalising this new reality, preventing the opening of new areas each time, and paving the way for Israel to take complete control of the Ibrahimi Mosque."
It added that this ongoing violation serves to appease illegal settlers who reject the full opening of the mosque to Muslim worshippers.
