Israel is banning international observers from Hebron to perpetrate a second massacre against Palestinians in the occupied city and take control of the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Fatah movement warned yesterday.
Member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, Osama Al-Qawasmi, said in a statement that the only explanation for the Israeli decision is that it plans to seize the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque and complete its colonial plan in Hebron.
Al-Qawasmi said the Palestinian Authority has succeeded in reviving the Old City of Hebron by rebuilding houses and shops there and opening schools and institutions.
READ: Israel removal of international observers from Hebron may breach Oslo Accords
He stressed the need to respond to the Israeli decision by setting up a programme to support the Palestinian presence in the Old City.
In 1994, the UN Security Council set up the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), composed of 64 members, following the massacre committed by the Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein on 25 February 1994 inside the Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29 Palestinians and injuring nearly 130 others.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would force the TIPH out of occupied Hebron accusing it of being “an international force that acts against us”.