By Qais Abu Samra and Tarek Chouiref
RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel has ordered the takeover of the roof of the inner courtyard at Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque, a move Palestinian officials say is the latest step to erode Muslim authority over one of the West Bank’s most sensitive holy sites.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said the order, covering 288 square meters, was issued on Monday through a formal expropriation notice.
Commission head Moayyad Shaaban said the decision “deepens Israel’s encroachment on religious sites in violation of international norms.” He warned it effectively transfers oversight from Palestinian religious authorities and the Hebron municipality to illegal settler councils, tightening Israel’s administrative and security grip on the shrine.
The commission appealed to UNESCO and the United Nations to intervene, saying the mosque’s protection is tied to preserving Hebron’s identity and Palestinian rights over their sacred sites.
In February, Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Israel had already shifted administrative powers over the mosque from the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Hebron’s municipality to an illegal settler religious body in Kiryat Arba.
In 2017, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recognized the Ibrahimi Mosque as a Palestinian heritage site.
The mosque lies in Hebron’s Old City, where some 400 illegal settlers live under the guard of about 1,500 soldiers.
In 1994, Israel divided the mosque after an illegal Israeli settler gunned down 29 Palestinian worshippers, allocating roughly two-thirds of the site to Jewish worship and the remainder to Muslims.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 1,022 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.