The Israeli occupation army on Saturday evening escorted 35000 Israeli settlers as they stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank province of al-Khalil.
According to a statement by the Israeli army the number of Israeli settlers who defiled the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Jewish Neighborhood has seen a swift upsurge from recent years.
Director of the Ibrahimi Mosque Hefdhi Abu Sneineh said the break-in represents a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the site and makes part of Israeli attempts to impose a new fait accompli in the area.
He added that flocks of Israeli military jeeps and settler hordes have been spotted near the site on Saturday.
At the same time the occupation forces closed off the Beer Sheba street in al-Khalil to allow Israeli settlers to march to the so-called Atna’el bin Kannaz shrine.
The Israeli occupation authorities often shut the doors of the Ibrahimi Mosque before the Muslim worshipers under the recommendations of the Shamgar Commission formed following the notorious Israeli massacre at the site in 1994 to temporally divide the mosque.
In early July UNESCO registered the Old City of al-Khalil and the Ibrahimi Mosque on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The decision passed in the 41st meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Kraków makes al-Khalil the fourth Palestinian site registered in the list in addition to Jerusalem Bethlehem and Battir.
