Hebron: Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday blocked the military checkpoint at the entrance of a-Shuhada Street in the Old City of Hebron, according to WAFA correspondent. The soldiers sealed off the checkpoint, denying Palestinians access to their houses in Tal Rumeida neighborhood and on the a-Shuhada Street.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the checkpoint was sealed off to facilitate an encroachment by Israeli colonists onto Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and several neighborhoods of Hebron. Earlier today, the occupying forces closed the Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians until Thursday evening, citing Jewish holidays.
The forces have tightened military measures around the mosque and in the Old City, sealing off all checkpoints and electronic gates leading to the mosque, and deploying at all entrances to secure colonists' access to the city and archaeological sites. This move is also under the pretext of celebrating Jewish holidays.
A curfew has been imposed for the third consecutive day on the Jaber, Salaymeh, Ghaith, and Wadi al-Hussein neighborhoods adjacent to the Kiryat Arba colony, east of Hebron. Earlier, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu, among others, stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque and performed dances in its courtyards, under the pretext of celebrating the second day of the 'Feast of Tabernacles'.
The city of Hebron, which houses the Ibrahimi Mosque, is home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 800 Israeli colonists. These colonists live in compounds heavily guarded by about 1,500 Israeli troops. Israel has expelled the only international monitors protecting Hebron's Palestinians from these colonists, one of whom committed the 1994 massacre that triggered their deployment.
Thirty-one years ago, Israeli colonist Baruch Goldstein attacked the Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29 Palestinian Muslim worshippers. Four Palestinians were also killed in the clashes that ensued around the Mosque in response to the massacre. Following the incident, the mosque was divided into two parts, with the larger part turned into a synagogue, and heavy scrutiny imposed on Palestinians, including the closure of key areas such as the main street, Shuhada Street.