The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs revealed that the occupation forces and settlers committed 68 violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron during the month of January.

According to the report issued by the ministry, settlers stormed Al-Aqsa 21 times under the protection of the occupation forces, while the call to prayer was prevented from being raised in the Ibrahimi Mosque 47 times, as part of the occupation’s attempts to impose temporal and spatial division on the sanctuary.

Systematic escalation in Al-Aqsa

The ministry explained that the occupation has escalated its restrictions on worshippers, especially during the dawn prayer, as young men were stopped and their identities were checked at the entrances to the Old City and the doors of the mosque, which forced dozens of Palestinians to perform the prayer at Bab al-Asbat.

The occupation forces also imposed similar restrictions on women, as they were stopped and their bags were searched at Bab al-Asbat while they were heading to perform Friday prayers.

In the context of Judaizing Islamic landmarks in Jerusalem, settlers hung signs in the city’s streets bearing the name “Temple Mount” to direct settlers towards Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the occupation authorities responded to their calls to remove signs bearing the name of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Arabic, in addition to removing the name “Al-Buraq Wall” from public buses.

Continuous violations in the Ibrahimi Mosque

In the Ibrahimi Mosque, the occupation's violations did not stop at preventing the call to prayer, but extended to changing the lock of the generator room and tampering with its contents, even though the key to the room is in the possession of the mosque's custodians. The occupation forces also changed the lock of the electricity network affiliated with the Hebron Municipality, in violation of the municipality's powers.

The ministry monitored several excavations carried out by the occupation authorities around the mosque, followed by the extension of electrical cables towards the section under occupation control. Control of the electricity room for Hebron Electricity is now in the hands of the occupation, after it had been the responsibility of the municipality employees.

Destruction of Islamic and Christian sanctities

In the context of targeting holy sites, the Ministry of Endowments documented the demolition of Al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin camp, in continuation of the occupation’s policy targeting Islamic and Christian religious sites in the Palestinian territories.

The Ministry of Endowments confirmed that these escalating attacks come within the framework of the occupation's attempts to impose its complete control over Islamic holy sites, amid warnings of the danger of Judaization plans targeting religious sites in Jerusalem and Hebron.