PA calls for help to maintain Muslim access to Ibrahimi Mosque

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]

Palestinian Authority (PA) yesterday called for Arabic and Islamic states, as well as the international community, to bear the responsibility of protecting Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied territories, the Safa news agency reported.

Government spokesman Yousef Al-Mahmoud for immediate pressure to be placed on the Israeli occupation in order to stop it closing the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron. The mosque was closed to Muslim worshippers at 10pm yesterday for a period of 24 hours in preparation for a Jewish holiday.

This is a “new Israeli crime in the record of the Israeli crimes being committed against the Palestinians, their land and their holy sites,” Al-Mahmoud said.

Read: Israel closes Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron

He warned “that the continuous targeting of the holy sites could ignite a religious war” which would be harsh and cause chaos in the region.

UNESCO last year designation of the Ibrahimi Mosque, a site which is stormed regularly by illegal Israeli settlers, as a Palestinian World Heritage Site under threat from Israel.

In response, Israel and the US cut funding to the UN body on multiple occasions, accusing it of “anti-Semitism”.

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