Palestinian religious leaders have issued an urgent warning over intensified Israeli restrictions at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron (al-Khalil), describing them as part of a dangerous escalation against Islamic sanctities and calling on Arab and Muslim countries to intervene.
At a press conference in Ramallah on Tuesday, top religious figures - including Mahmoud al-Habbash, the Palestinian President’s advisor on religious affairs and chief Islamic judge; Minister of Religious Endowments Mohammad Mustafa Najem; and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Hussein - condemned what they described as unprecedented Israeli violations at the sacred site.
"These actions mark a new and more dangerous phase than ever before," said al-Habbash. "This is a warning bell. The time has come for practical - not just rhetorical - action to defend the holy sites that preserve the identity of this land."
Al-Habbash accused Israel's far-right government of trying to transform the conflict into a religious war by targeting key Muslim holy sites, primarily Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
"This is no longer a political dispute - it's a direct assault on religious values and sanctities," he warned, adding that the repercussions could extend far beyond Palestine.
The most recent violations include locking internal doors inside the Ibrahimi Mosque, banning religious rituals on key occasions such as Fridays, Eid, and the last ten nights of Ramadan, and sealing off Waqf-administered sections of the site.
One of the most provocative steps, according to Palestinian officials, was the 15-day ban imposed on Sheikh Moataz Abu Sneineh, the mosque’s director.
Sheikh Abu Sneineh and another staff member were detained for over five hours before being issued expulsion orders, Anadolu reported.
Jamal Abu Aram, director of the al-Khalil Waqf department, said Israeli forces had chained and locked all interior rooms in the occupied section of the mosque, including the call-to-prayer room and the Waqf offices.
"This is a continuation of Israel’s strategy to dominate the mosque and strip the Waqf of authority over its sections," Abu Aram said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments condemned the move as a "dangerous precedent" and an outright attack on the mosque’s Islamic identity.
Quoting Sheikh Abu Sneineh, the ministry affirmed that all shrines and corridors of the mosque legally belong to the Islamic Waqf, and the recent actions represent "a blatant and serious assault on the sanctity of these inviolable places".
Al-Habbash asserted that such measures violate international law and religious freedoms, constituting an attack not just on Palestinians but also on the broader Arab, Islamic, and Christian communities.
He reiterated that the Palestinian leadership will not rely on Israeli courts and instead intends to pursue Israel in international legal forums.
"We will hold Israel accountable as we do other war criminals - through the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and other global bodies," he said.
Minister Najem announced that the Ministry of Religious Endowments, with backing from the Palestinian government, has begun implementing practical and legal countermeasures. These include closing smaller mosques in Hebron’s Old City on Fridays to concentrate worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque, coordinating with international actors, and assigning a legal specialist to pursue a case on the latest violations.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Hussein, urged the Arab and Islamic worlds to act directly to protect sacred sites. He reminded the public that the Ibrahimi and Al-Aqsa Mosques are Islamic endowments and Muslim-exclusive places of worship, stressing that all Israeli actions - including those based on the Shamgar Commission’s recommendations - are rejected by the Palestinian people and the wider Islamic world.
"Israel is trying to impose a new reality in the Ibrahimi and Al-Aqsa mosques and other sacred places," said Hussein. "But these violations grant it no legitimacy or right in our holy sites."
The Ibrahimi Mosque has remained under Israeli occupation since 1994, when an Israeli settler massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers. Since then, Israel has divided the site, allocating 63 percent - including the call-to-prayer area - to Jewish settlers, and the remaining 37 percent to Muslims. Today, about 400 settlers live in Hebron's Old City under the protection of 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
The current escalation at the mosque occurs amid a broader Israeli crackdown across the West Bank, which has intensified since October 2023.
According to UN figures, at least 944 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in Israeli attacks since then, with over 15,800 arrested. The violence has displaced at least 40,000 people, making it the largest wave of forced displacement since the 1967 war.
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