In a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the Ibrahimi Mosque and the rights of Palestinians to practice their religious rites in their mosques, the President of the Israeli occupation state, Isaac Herzog, is preparing to open the celebrations of the so-called "Hanukkah” Jewish festival, by lighting the first candle in the mosque tomorrow, Sunday 28/11/2021

 At the same time, the Israeli occupation government announced the approval of the construction of 372 new settlement units inside the "Kiryat Arba" settlement in the city of Hebron.  This decision was preceded by the start months ago of implementing a Judaization project on an area of ​​300 square meters of the courtyards of the Ibrahimi Mosque and its facilities.

The Israeli occupation prohibits the "أذان” – call of prayer- every Saturday, and at the time of "Al Maghreb”   and continues to excavate antiquities in its courtyards, to complete control over it. A Jewish settler, under the auspices of the occupation army and its protection, committed a horrific massacre against the worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque on February 25, 1994 while they were performing the Friday prayer at dawn in the middle of Ramadan, in which 29 worshipers were killed and more than 150 were wounded.

The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness) confirms that these measures contradict the provisions and rules of international humanitarian law and come within the framework of a systematic plan of action by the Israeli occupation to completely Judaize the city of Hebron and its Ibrahimi Mosque.  It calls on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to take the necessary measures to stop the flagrant violations against the residents of the occupied Palestinian territories.  It also calls on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States to take practical steps to prevent the occupation from its colonial policy

Beirut 28/11/2021

Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness)