Israel closes Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque amid Jewish New Year celebrations

By Awad Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army closed the flashpoint Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron to Muslim worshippers.

The move comes as Israelis celebrate the Jewish New Year on Monday.

“The Israeli army prevented the call for prayer from the mosque and made it off-limits to Muslim worshippers,” mosque director Ghassan Al-Rajabi told Anadolu Agency.

He said Israeli settlers, however, were allowed to celebrate inside the worship place.

Revered by both Muslims and Jews, Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque complex is believed to be the burial site of the prophets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

After the 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian worshippers inside the mosque by a Jewish extremist settler, Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli authorities divided the mosque complex between Muslim and Jewish worshippers.

UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided in July 2017 to include the Ibrahimi Mosque and the old city of Hebron on its World Heritage List.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi in Ankara contributed to this report