The occupation prevents Friday prayers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron

The Israeli occupation prevented citizens in Hebron from performing Friday prayers in the Ibrahimi Mosque, and continued to close it to worshipers and open it to settlers for the third day in a row. Director of Hebron Endowments, Ghassan Al-Rajabi, said: 'The occupation soldiers prevented us from entering the Ibrahimi Mosque to perform Friday prayers, so we prayed at one of the military checkpoints surrounding it.' He added, "About a thousand worshipers performed Friday prayers at a closed military checkpoint on the western side of the Haram." He pointed out that dozens of worshippers performed the Friday dawn prayer at the military barriers surrounding the Grand Mosque after being prevented from entering it. He explained that "the mosque has been closed by the occupation authorities for 4 days under the pretext of the Jewish holidays, and the closure ends on Saturday evening." He added that the occupation's goal is to "change the Palestinian demographics in the area surrounding the sanctuary, increase the presence of settler herds, and in parallel prevent the call to prayer, Islamic life, and prayer." Al-Rajbi said, "The occupation does not recognize freedom of worship except for the colonists, and denies it to the Palestinians." The Ibrahimi Mosque is located in the Old City of Hebron, which the Israeli occupation imposes its control over. About 400 settlers live there by force, guarded by about 1,500 occupation soldiers, amidst the spread of dozens of military checkpoints. Since 1994, Israel, the occupying power, has divided the Ibrahimi Mosque into 63% for Jews and 37% for Muslims, following a massacre committed by a colonizer that resulted in the martyrdom of 29 worshipers. The call to prayer room is located in the section designated for Jews. Source: Maan News Agency