Israeli authorities Prevent Muslims from Ibrahimi Mosque

YemenExtra

Y.A

Israeli forces have decided to close the Ibrahimi mosque to Muslims and non-Jewish visitors and only allow Jewish worshipers enter the holy site, located in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot

Hafzi Abu Sneneh, director of the mosque, said he was told that the site would be closed to Muslim worshipers from 10 p.m. Sunday until Tuesday night, official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Abu Sneneh added that the Muslim call to prayer will also be prevented during the shutdown period.

Severe restrictions for Palestinians — including denied access to the Ibrahimi Mosque — are typically implemented by the Israeli forces during Jewish holidays for alleged security purposes. The West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip have also been placed under an 11-day military general closure for the holiday.

The mosque, believed to be the burial place of the prophet Abraham, is frightened to both Muslims and Jews and has been the site of oft-violent tensions for decades.

The holy site was split into a synagogue — known to Jews as the Cave of Patriarchs — and a mosque after US-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians inside the mosque in 1994.

Since the split, Muslim worshipers have been denied entering the site during Jewish holidays and vice versa in effort to ban violence from erupting at the holy site. Located in the center of Hebron — one of the largest cities in the West Bank — the Old City was also divided into Palestinian and Israeli-controlled areas at the time, known as H1 and H2.