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Scene. Published by IMEMC News
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by IMEMC News
April 7, 2025

Israeli authorities placed locks on the doors of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on Monday, abducted one employee, banned another, and summoned its director.

Sheikh Jamal Abu Aram, the Director of the Hebron Endowments, told Ma’an News that Israeli occupation authorities summoned the director of the mosque, Sheikh Mutaz Abu Sneineh for interrogation, after he published photos of the locks placed on the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Abu Aram stated “Until this moment, we do not know the fate of the director of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Sheikh Mutaz Abu Sneineh, nor his whereabouts after he was summoned. It appears that these punitive measures came in response to the filming and publication of images of the locks that the occupation placed on the doors of the shrines inside the mosque today.”

The Ma’an News Agency reported that Israeli forces abducted the employee, Arafat Abu Turki, while he was leaving his post at the Ibrahimi Mosque on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, occupation authorities imposed a ban against the employee, Raed Al-Sharbaty, barring him from returning to the Ibrahimi Mosque for 14 days.

For his part, Imad Hamdan, the Minister of Culture denounced the Israeli decision to place locks on the tomb of the Prophet Joseph, the “incense burner” room, the call to prayer room, and other shrines and corridors.

Hamdan added that “This aggressive act constitutes a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions that protect places of worship and religious sanctities. It is also a blatant assault on our people’s identity and historical and religious rights, and a provocation to the feelings of Muslims in Palestine and the world at large.”

He stressed that the occupation’s attempt to alter the historical and religious components of the Palestinian Islamic landmark will not succeed.

In a statement, the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said that the Israeli authorities’ decision to lock the doors of the Ibrahimi Mosque constitutes a perilous step with the objective of subverting the ministry’s sovereignty over the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Sheikh Moataz Abu Sneineh, the Director of the Ibrahimi Mosque highlighted that the Islamic Waqf has legal jurisdiction sovereignty over the entirety of the Ibrahimi Mosque.

In related news, dozens of illegal Israeli colonizers invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, on Monday morning, under the protection of occupation police.

According to the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, at least 93 Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and performed Talmudic rituals, while Israeli police provided security.