The Israeli higher court of justice on Wednesday rejected a request filed by the municipality of al-Khalil City to freeze the licensing and building of an elevator for Jewish settlers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.
In August 2020 an Israeli court rejected a petition filed by lawyers of al-Khalil municipality asking for issuing a verdict preventing the Israeli occupation authority in the city from building an elevator for Jewish settlers at the Islamic holy site.
The same court also issued a decision at the time authorizing the Israeli higher planning council to look into the matter.
Last year Israeli war minister Naftali Bennett gave the civil administration’s higher planning council — an affiliate of the Israeli occupation army — the green light to complete all procedures needed to confiscate private Palestinian property near the Ibrahimi Mosque for the project.
According to the plan the Israeli army intends to build a special path for Jewish settlers to the Mosque including a parking lot an elevator and rest spots.
The plan which is part of Israeli efforts to Judaize the Ibrahimi Mosque and changing its historic Islamic identity received approvals from the Israeli judicial authorities premier Benjamin Netanyahu foreign minister Israel Katz and finally Bennett.
The Israeli military authority imposed its control over the Ibrahimi Mosque closed streets and seized Palestinian property in the Old City of al-Khalil following the 1994 massacre that was committed by a Jewish terrorist and claimed the lives of dozens of Muslims as they were praying at the Islamic holy site.
27 years ago on February 25 1994 an extremist Jewish settler named Baruch Goldstein opened fire at hundreds of Palestinians as they were performing al-Fajr prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of al-Khalil.
Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians and wounded more than 150 others before he was overpowered disarmed and then beaten to death by survivors.
The massacre did not end there. Later Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian citizens who attended the victims’ funerals and killed many of them raising the death toll of the massacre to 60.
