HEBRON, January 1, 2025 (WAFA) – Hebron Municipality Tuesday warned of the Israeli excavations at the yards of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
The Municipality cautioned in a press statement against the consequences of the Israeli excavations undertaken at the mosque yards, while affirming that these excavations were part of the wider Israeli occupation’s attempts aimed at stripping the Municipality of its powers, creating new fait accompli, obliterating the Palestinian identity of and Judaizing the site.
It slammed the excavation and digging works as a flagrant violation of international law, which lacks any objective or legal justification, as well as a serious danger to the historical and religious structure of the site and its vicinity, which form an integral part of the cultural heritage of Palestine.
It called upon all local and international institutions to immediately intervene to halt these Israeli violations and safeguard the site.
The city of Hebron, which houses the Ibrahimi Mosque, is home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 800 notoriously aggressive Israeli settlers who live in compounds heavily guarded by about 1,500 Israeli troops.
Israel has expelled the only international monitors protecting Hebron’s Palestinians from 800 heavily guarded settlers, one of whom committed the 1994 massacre that triggered their deployment.
Thirty years ago, Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque and opened fire at Palestinian Muslim worshippers, killing 29. Four Palestinians were killed on the same day in the clashes that broke out around the Mosque in response to the massacre.
In the aftermath, the mosque was divided in two, with the larger part turned into a synagogue while heavy scrutiny was imposed on the Palestinians and areas closed completely to them, including an important market and the main street, Shuhada street.
The occupation authorities completely seal off the mosque 10 days annually under the pretext of Jewish holidays.
K.F.
