Israel has sealed Hebron with 106 iron gates and seeks to impose full control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern occupied West Bank city, a Palestinian governor said.
Hebron Governor Khaled Dodin told a press conference on Tuesday that Israeli authorities have blocked 16 roads and entrances to the governorate with earth mounds.
Dodin condemned the ongoing Israeli work on the roof of the Ibrahimi Mosque, saying Israel has continued construction works for a second consecutive day as part of "a plan aimed at imposing a new reality that would enable it to seize control of the site."
He accused Israel of seeking to impose full control over the mosque through successive measures, including control over electricity panels and water facilities.
"They have also prevented the call to prayer at the mosque for the past 10 days," he said.
Dodin said the Hebron governorate, in coordination with local institutions, has prepared a plan to strengthen Palestinian presence inside the mosque and its courtyards, while pursuing international pressure to halt the Israeli measures.
Recently, Israeli authorities stripped Hebron Municipality of powers related to managing and regulating certain works at the mosque and transferred them to the Kiryat Arba settlement.
Palestinian authorities rejected the move, saying it targets the historical and legal status of the mosque.
Divided mosque
Located in Hebron's Old City under Israeli occupation, the mosque lies in an area where around 400 Israeli occupiers live under the protection of roughly 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
Following the 1994 massacre, in which an Israeli occupier killed 29 Palestinian worshippers, the mosque was divided, with 63 percent allocated to Jews and 37 percent to Muslims.
The mosque was previously open to Muslim worshippers during specific religious occasions, including Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, but access has been increasingly restricted in recent years.
Dodin said the targeting of the Ibrahimi Mosque comes as part of broader Israeli violations against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, including killings, arrests, displacement, home demolitions, land bulldozing, and illegal settlement expansion.
He also said more than 20 new settlement outposts had been established across the governorate.
The governor said local authorities documented 763 attacks by Israeli occupiers against Palestinians.
Since October 8, 2023, the Israeli army and Israeli occupiers have killed 1,173 Palestinians, wounded 12,666, abducted about 23,000 and displaced 33,000 others, according to Palestinian figures.
