Hawzah News Agency (Occupied Territories) - Israeli authorities banned Palestinian mosque employees from playing the Muslim call to prayer through the speakers of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern occupied West Bank city of Al-khalil 44 times in February, on Monday.

The Islamic Endowment Department in Al-khalil said that the restrictions are attempts by the Israeli occupation to give the impression that the mosque is Jewish property.

The Ibrahimi Mosque, believed to be the burial place of the prophet Abraham, is located in central Al-khalil, a frequent site of tensions due to the presence of 500 Israeli settlers in the Old City.

A 1997 agreement split Hebron into areas of Palestinian and Israeli control.

The Israeli military-controlled H2 zone includes the ancient Old City, home of the revered Ibrahimi Mosque -- also split into a synagogue referred to by Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs -- and the once thriving Shuhada street, now just shuttered shops fronts and closed homes.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

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