Thousands of Palestinian citizens attended the Friday khutba (sermon) and prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil City despite the Israeli road obstacles around it.

In his khutba the preacher highlighted the Islamic and Arab identity of the Ibrahimi Mosque and denounced recent Israeli attempts to change its character through seizing parts of its outer premises to carry out a project for Jewish settlers.

Local activists and figures already urged al-Khalil residents to flock to the Ibrahimi Mosque to perform the Fajr and Friday prayers and intensify their presence at the holy site to confront Israeli intents to Judaize it.

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in al-Khalil City has recently launched a new Judaization project over an area of about 300 square meters of the Mosque’s outer premises.

The project includes building routes and installing an elevator for Jewish settlers.

About 6000 Muslim worshipers performed the second Friday prayer of Ramadan at the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil despite the Israeli occupation barriers and the policy of selection and prevention from accessing the Mosque.

Sheikh Hatim Al-Bakri the preacher of the Mosque talked about the virtues of Jerusalem and the conditions in which it is going through in addition to the virtues of the blessed month of Ramadan.

Since 1994 the Ibrahimi Mosque has been divided into two parts a section for Muslims and another for Jews after a Jewish settler killed 29 Muslims while they were performing the Fajir (dawn) prayer on February 25 of the same year.