Israeli occupation authorities on Wednesday closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to Muslim worshipers until the evening of Saturday.
Director of the Ibrahimi Mosque and its chief custodian, Moataz Abu Sneina, told ,Palestinian news agency (WAFA) that the occupation authorities closed the Ibrahimi Mosque today to Muslim worshipers to allow colonists to celebrate one of their holidays.
He noted that the closure involves blocking the main gates of the mosque and preventing all endowments’ staff from entering.
The occupation is turning all neighborhoods of the Old City, the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque, and nearby neighborhoods into military zones, intensifying the deployment of its soldiers at various key points in the area while allowing hundreds of colonists to enter the mosque, Abu Sneina said.
He described the actions of the occupation government as racist and a violation of the freedom of worship and the right of Muslims to perform their religious rituals and prayers in this purely Islamic mosq
ue.
In turn, the Director-general of the Hebron Waqf Department Ghassan Al-Rajabi condemned the ongoing attacks against the Ibrahimi Mosque, including the prohibition of the Adhan (call to prayer) for the Fajr (down) prayer for the 27th consecutive day and the decision to close the mosque today, resulting in four consecutive days of closure an unprecedented situation and part of the unprecedented assault on Islamic sanctities.
The Israeli occupation authorities turn Jewish holidays into occasions for escalating their arbitrary and oppressive measures, tightening restrictions on the lives of Palestinians, hindering their movement, damaging the pillars of the economy, undermining citizens’ livelihoods, and inflicting the worst forms of abuse at the checkpoints that divide the occupied Palestinian territory. These holidays also provide an opportunity for intensified incursions by extremist Jewish groups into Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Source: Qatar News Agency