‘We reject Israel's attempts to alter status of Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and to usurp authority of the Palestinian people,' Turkish Foreign Ministry says
Türkiye on Thursday condemned Israel's attempts to change the status of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said: “We reject Israel's attempts to alter the status of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and to usurp the authority of the Palestinian people.”
On Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv removed the Hebron municipality's administrative authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque and reassigned it to a settler council.
“The relevant UN agencies, particularly UNESCO, and the international community must take measures against this attempt, which constitutes a violation of international law and an attack on human values,” it added.
The Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is a site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Tensions over control and access have long made the mosque a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli move marks the first major shift in the status of the mosque since the 1994 recommendations of the Shamgar Commission, which divided access, allocating 63% of the site to Jewish worshippers and 37% to Muslims.
That division followed the 1994 massacre by extremist settler Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Palestinian worshippers during dawn prayers.
The mosque is located in Hebron's Old City in an area under full Israeli control where roughly 400 illegal settlers live under the protection of around 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
