Hawzah News Agency - (Occupied Palestine) - Israeli forces today prevented the call for dawn prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied city of Al-Khalil, denying Muslim worshipers access to the site.

The Palestinian Authority condemned occupation forces for deliberately infringing on religious freedoms by applying such restrictions.

The Ibrahimi Mosque was closed from early March whilst the occupied West Bank was dealing with the outbreak of the coronavirus, it reopened on Tuesday, along with the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.

Slamming Israel’s latest violations, Director and Head of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Sheikh Hafthi Abu Esnaina, said: “The Israelis strive to keep Muslim worshippers away from the site by closing the electronic gates and blocking residents’ paths at military checkpoints.”  

He added that “an attack on the holy places of Islam” contravenes international treaties on religious freedom.

Occupation forces also prevented the Al-Khalil Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) from continuing restoration works at the holy site yesterday under the pretext that they did not have the necessary permissions to do so.

Sheikh Hafthi, however, explained that work at the mosque falls within the authority of the Palestinian Ministry of Waqf.

The Old City of, Al-Khalil in Arabic, includes the Ibrahimi Mosque which is known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017.