The Palestinian foreign ministry has slammed an Israeli decision to transfer the management of the Ibrahimi Mosque to a Jewish settlement council, as Tel Aviv continues to encroach on the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom revealed that Tel Aviv transferred the management of the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Palestinian-run Hebron municipality to the Jewish religious council in the Kiryat Arba settlement.
The Ibrahimi Mosque has remained under Israeli occupation since 1994, when an Israeli settler massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers.
Since then, Israel has divided the site, allocating 63 percent – including the call-to-prayer area – to Jewish settlers, and the remaining 37 percent to Muslims.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian ministry described the move as "unprecedented" and aimed at "Judaising the compound and changing its identity."
The mosque has reportedly not been informed about this transfer of authority.
In a statement seen by Anadolu Agency, the ministry said what Israeli media reported “represents a flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions."
The foreign ministry called on UNESCO – the United Nations’ cultural arm – and the international community to "urgently intervene to halt the implementation of this decision immediately," warning of its repercussions for all Islamic and Christian holy sites.
Israel Hayom had said: "This is great news for the settlements. In an unprecedented historic step, it has been decided to make a major change to the status quo at the Cave of Machpelah," using the Jewish name for the mosque.
It explained that this step entailed "the Israeli Civil Administration withdrawing powers from the Palestinian Hebron Municipality and transferring them to the Religious Council in Kiryat Arba-Hebron."
While the newspaper did not clarify the nature of these powers, it said that the move aims to "push forward with the implementation of structural changes to the site."
These would be the first major changes made to the site since 1994.
Today, around 400 settlers live in Hebron's Old City under the protection of 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
'Stop the E1 settlement'
The foreign ministry on Tuesday had also called for international intervention to prevent Israel from implementing the E1 settlement plan east of Jerusalem.
Israel annexed the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967. Many Palestinians want to see the West Bank and the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of a future state of theirs, with East Jerusalem as its capital, something the Israeli government refuses.
Israel has continued to expand its settlement building across the occupied territories despite them being illegal under international law.
Israeli left-wing publication Haaretz reported earlier this week that Israel had decided to move forward with the E1 settlement plan.
If implemented, the E1 would effectively cut the West Bank in half.
The Palestinian foreign ministry called on the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, to "assume its responsibilities in pressuring the occupying state to immediately halt its implementation" of E1.
It also urged "all countries to assume their responsibilities, especially those that claim to adhere to the two-state solution and achieve peace," warning of "the risks resulting from any Israeli steps to resume work on the settlement project."
The E1 settlement would be the last link in a chain of Israeli settlements separating East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and would bisect the West Bank from north to south.
The proposed E1 plan would spell a definitive end to any chance of a contiguous or viable Palestinian state due to the location of the proposed settlement, and has been a plan of the Israeli government for the last two decades.