Key facts
- Israeli forces have banned the call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron for five consecutive days.
- The mosque's director and head of custodians have been barred from the site for 12 days.
- Israeli authorities cited maintenance work, including preparations for a roof installation, as the reason for the ban.
- The call to prayer is broadcast from a room under Israeli control, and soldiers have prevented the muezzin from accessing it.
- The Palestinian Authority condemned the measures as an attempt to tighten Israeli control over the mosque.
- The ban on the call to prayer has been a recurring policy, particularly on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, but has intensified recently.
Israeli forces have prohibited the call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, for a fifth consecutive day. The army has also issued orders barring the mosque's director, Sheikh Mutaz Abu Sneineh, and the head of its custodians, Hammam Abu Murkhiya, from entering the site for 12 days.
Israeli authorities cited maintenance work, including preparations to install a roof over the mosque's central courtyard, as the reason for the ban on the adhan, or call to prayer. A Palestinian source explained that the broadcast room is located in the section of the mosque under Israeli control, and soldiers have prevented the muezzin from accessing it.
The Ibrahimi Mosque, revered by Muslims and Jews as the burial place of Abraham, has been partitioned since a 1994 massacre. Palestinians allege that Israel has steadily expanded its control over the shrine, implementing measures to reduce Palestinian presence and increase Jewish control, a trend that has intensified since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.
The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs condemned the actions as "escalating repressive and arbitrary measures" and a "direct and public targeting" of the mosque's leadership, aimed at tightening Israeli control. Hisham Sharabati of the Hebron Defence Committee stated that the ban on the call to prayer is an "old policy" that has been enforced more strictly recently, with restrictions significantly intensifying since late 2022.