Israel bans call to prayer at Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque for fifth day

Israel bans call to prayer at Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque for fifth day Submitted by Lubna Masarwa on Fri, 06/26/2026 - 13:48 Palestinians say latest measures deepen Israeli control over occupied West Bank site A woman looks through an iron gate at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on 16 June 2026 (Hazem Bader/AFP) Off Israeli forces have banned the call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron for a fifth consecutive day, in the latest escalation against Palestinian presence at the site. The Israeli army has also issued orders barring the mosque's director, Sheikh Mutaz Abu Sneineh, and the head of its custodians, Hammam Abu Murkhiya, from entering the site for 12 days. The call to prayer, known in Arabic as the adhan, has been prohibited since Sunday, a Palestinian source told Middle East Eye. Israeli authorities have cited maintenance work as the reason, after beginning preparations to install a roof over the mosque's central courtyard. "There are prayers, but there is no call to prayer," the Palestinian source said. He explained that the room from which the adhan is broadcast is located in the section of the mosque under Israeli control. Soldiers have refused to allow the muezzin, who delivers the call to prayer, to access it. In 1994, an American-Israeli settler entered the Ibrahimi Mosque and opened fire on Palestinian worshippers, killing 29 people. In the aftermath of the massacre, Israel partitioned the site, allocating nearly 60 percent to Jewish worshippers and the remainder to Muslims. Since then, Palestinians say Israel has steadily expanded its control over the shrine, which is revered by Muslims and Jews as the burial place of Abraham, a patriarch shared by both faiths, as well as Christianity. 'The ban on the call to prayer has been ongoing. It's an old policy' - Hisham Sharabati, Hebron Defence Committee coordinator They say Israel has introduced a series of measures aimed at reducing the Palestinian presence while increasing Jewish control over the site. Those measures have intensified since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. They include tighter restrictions on worshippers' access, the expulsion of imams and mosque staff, and the gradual transfer of administrative control away from the Palestinian Authority. The Ibrahimi Mosque is in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. The occupation is considered illegal under international law. Escalating measures The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs condemned what it described as "escalating repressive and arbitrary measures" targeting the Ibrahimi Mosque. It said it viewed the expulsion of Abu Sneineh and Abu Murkhiya "with grave concern". "These decisions constitute a direct and public targeting of the mosque's official religious administration and represent a serious attempt to strip the Ibrahimi Mosque of its legally and religiously authorised religious and administrative leadership," the ministry said. It added that the measures form part of "an escalating and systematic policy" aimed at tightening Israeli control over the mosque. Hisham Sharabati, a coordinator with the Hebron Defence Committee, said the adhan ban is not new. He said the call to prayer has routinely been banned on Saturdays and during Jewish holidays since the mid-1990s.  The Israeli unmaking of the Ibrahimi Mosque Read More » According to Sharabati, soldiers also arbitrarily deny the muezzin access to the call-to-prayer room, leaving scheduled adhans undelivered. "Sometimes it [the ban] is enforced more strictly, sometimes less so," Sharabati told MEE. "In a single month, there can be 70 to 90 missed calls to prayer. "The ban on the call to prayer has been ongoing. It's an old policy." However, he said restrictions have intensified significantly since Israel's current government took office in late 2022. "During the Covid pandemic, restrictions were imposed in the name of public health. Later, during the war, restrictions were justified on security grounds," he said. "Yet even when Israel allowed public gatherings of a certain size elsewhere, those same limits were not respected at the Ibrahimi Mosque." Sharabati also said Israeli authorities have increasingly turned worshippers away at the mosque's only entrance, which is controlled by soldiers. "They turn people back - young men, women and others - without providing any real explanation," he said. Occupation News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0