![Israelis walk outside the Ibrahimi Mosque, also called the Tomb of the Patriarchs, during the Jewish Passover holiday, in the West Bank city of Hebron, April 5, 2015 [Mamoun Wazwaz / ApaImages]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/050415_MW_00-10.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Some 10,000 Palestinians prayed at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank on Friday, the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid a heavy presence of Israeli forces.
Sheikh Hamdi al-Zghayyar, a preacher at the mosque, stressed to the worshippers the importance of visiting and praying at Ibrahimi Mosque in order to prevent Israeli plans of “Judaising” the mosque.
The mosque, believed to be the burial place of the prophet Abraham, is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and has been the site of oft-violent tensions for decades.
The holy site was split into a synagogue – known to Jews as the Cave of Patriarchs – and a mosque after US-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians inside the mosque in 1994.
Head of Hebron’s Islamic Endowment (Waqf) Hajj Ismail Abu al-Halaweh told Ma’an that despite the checkpoints and the large number of Israeli forces in the area the mosque was still “full of worshipers.”
FIle photo of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, also known as the Cave of Patriarchs
Dozens of Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers were stationed throughout the streets and gates near the mosque in order to facilitate Palestinians crossing through the Israeli military checkpoints, while Jawdat al-Muhtaseb, coordinator for Red Crescent volunteers, noted that 130 Palestinians volunteered with the group in order to facilitate movement and assist elderly worshippers and those with special needs.
Following the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, a 1997 agreement split Hebron into areas of Palestinian and Israeli control.
The Ibrahimi Mosque fell under the Israeli military-controlled H2 zone, which also includes the rest of the ancient Old City and the once thriving Shuhada street, now just shuttered shops fronts and closed homes.
Some 800 notoriously aggressive settlers now live under the protection of the Israeli military in the Old City, surrounded by more than 30,000 Palestinians.
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