The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council warns that the Israeli Occupation Forces aims to impose further control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, West Bank, by changing the campus of the Mosque under the pretext of security.
The Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) is a major Palestinian historical, architectural, and archaeological site. The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee has helped preserve the site since 1996. Moreover, the old town of Hebron, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, is registered on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage sites in Palestine.
Beginning in July, the Israeli Occupation Forces started building stone rooms in front of the northern gate of the Mosque to replace the “temporary” checkpoints, with the intent of imposing a permanent status quo. This preliminary step towards taking control of the Mosque, comes along with several other procedures that aim to impede the movement of Palestinians in the old town of Hebron, and will lead to the further isolation of the old town from the rest of Hebron.
The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) warns that through the construction of a permanent checkpoint, Israel aims to take further control of the Ibrahimi Mosque. PHROC denounces the severe limitations on Palestinians’ rights to freedom movement and worship, and calls upon the international community and international organizations to take action to stop Israel’s policy of creating “facts on the ground” through the creation of permanent structures in the OPT that further its control over Palestinian land.