By Awad Rajoob
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army prevented Palestinians in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, from performing weekly Friday prayers and continued to close the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim faithfuls, leaving it open only to illegal Israeli settlers for the third consecutive day.
"Israeli soldiers prevented us from entering the mosque to perform Friday prayers, so we prayed at one of the surrounding checkpoints," Hebron Endowments Director Ghassan Al-Rajabi told Anadolu.
“Around a thousand Palestinians performed Friday prayers at a closed military checkpoint west of the mosque,” he added.
According to Al-Rajabi, dozens of Palestinians were denied entry to the mosque on Friday morning, forcing them to offer prayers at the checkpoints surrounding it.
He explained that Israeli authorities have closed the mosque for four days, citing Jewish holidays, and that the closure was expected to end on Saturday evening.
Al-Rajabi accused Israel of trying to "alter the Palestinian demographic around the mosque, increase illegal Israeli settlers’ presence, and simultaneously prevent the call to prayer (Adhan) and prayers."
He made the point that "the Israeli occupation (authorities) only recognizes religious of illegal Israeli settlers, denying the same to Palestinians."
On Wednesday, Mutaz Abu Sunaina, the mosque's director, told Anadolu that “Israeli authorities began the closure on Wednesday due to the Sukkot and Yom Kippur holidays.”
He noted that during such closures, “the entire mosque is opened for illegal settlers, where they hold loud celebrations and Talmudic prayers.”
He added that “The closure will continue until Saturday evening.”
Yom Kippur celebrations began on Thursday evening, during which illegal Israeli settlers increased their incursions into Islamic and historical sites, such as the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Ibrahimi Mosque is located in Hebron's Old City, which is under Israeli control, and is home to approximately 400 illegal Israeli settlers who are protected by 1,500 Israeli soldiers and numerous military checkpoints.
Following a massacre by an Israeli settler in 1994 that killed 29 Palestinians, Israel divided the mosque, allocating 63% to Jews and 37% to Muslims, with the Adhan (call to prayer) room in the Jewish section.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio