https://arab.news/c5em2
Israel is racing to annex occupied Palestinian lands through a systematic plan that involves seizing religious, cultural and historical landmarks, erasing Palestinians’ ties to their native territories.
Last week, the Israeli Civil Administration — a military body overseeing the West Bank — transferred all administrative authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Palestinian Hebron Municipality to the religious council of the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba. The move ends Islamic administration of the site. The municipality condemned the action, noting that it violates UNESCO’s designation of the Ibrahimi Mosque and Hebron’s Old City as endangered world heritage sites.
Unlike Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem’s Old City, the Ibrahimi Mosque is regarded as holy by Muslims, Jews and Christians alike as the resting place of Prophet Ibrahim, patriarch of all three faiths. Until 1967, it was administered by the Muslim Awqaf and Hebron Municipality.
It became a flashpoint when Israeli authorities allowed Jews to pray at the site. In 1994, armed Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein entered the mosque during Ramadan and opened fire on worshippers, killing 29 and wounding more than 120. Following the massacre, a 1997 agreement split control: 63 percent allocated to Jewish worshippers, 37 percent to Muslims.
