Israeli settlers assault Palestinian worshippers at Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron

By Awad al-Rujoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - A number of Palestinian worshippers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron city, southern the occupied West Bank, were assaulted by Israeli settlers on Monday evening prayer.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israeli settlers used pepper spray to attack the Palestinians in the Ibrahimi Mosque, resulting in cases of suffocation and burns among the worshippers.

Wafa also reported that the settlers were protected by the Israeli army during their assault.

Social media activists posted videos on their social media accounts showing Palestinian worshippers coughing and lying on the ground.

The Israeli authorities did not comment on the incident.

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.

Hebron is home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 500 Jewish settlers. The latter live in a series of Jewish-only enclaves heavily guarded by Israeli troops.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar