- Israel temporarily closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron during Jewish holidays, preventing Muslim worshippers while allowing access to Israeli settlers.
- The mosque is periodically sealed off during Jewish holidays and was divided between the two groups after a 1994 massacre.
The Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron has been temporarily closed by Israel during Jewish holidays, as reported by the mosque’s director on Saturday. Ghassan al-Rajabi stated that Israeli forces barred Muslim worshippers from entering the mosque while allowing Israeli settlers access. The closure is expected to last until Saturday evening.
Israeli settlers observe the Rosh Hashanah holiday from September 15 to September 17, as well as the Sukkot holiday at the end of September and the Simhat Torah holiday on October 6. During these Jewish holidays, the Israeli army typically restricts Muslim access to the mosque for up to ten days each year.
The Ibrahimi Mosque complex in Hebron is highly significant to both Muslims and Jews, believed to be the burial site of the prophets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Following the tragic 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian worshippers inside the mosque by a Jewish extremist settler, Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli authorities divided the complex, allowing separate access for Muslim and Jewish worshippers.
In July 2017, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee added the Ibrahimi Mosque and the old city of Hebron to its World Heritage List. Hebron is home to approximately 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and around 500 Jewish settlers living in heavily guarded Jewish-only enclaves under the protection of Israeli troops.
