Outrage over Israeli president’s raid into Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron to celebrate Hanukkah

Hebron (QNN)- Israeli occupation President Isaac Herzog will light the first candle of Hanukkah accompanied by settler leaders at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank’s city of Hebron on Sunday.

Herzog is planning to light the Hanukkah menorah in Hebron on Sunday, during a raid into the West Bank city and in the company of illegal settlers.

The Islamic Waqf warned of Herzog’s raid and held the occupation state fully responsible for the consequences of it.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the raid is “an official embracing of settlers’ terror.”

In 1994, the far-right American-Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Palestinian worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29 men and wounding 100 during Ramadan Friday prayers.

Israeli occupation authorities exploited the massacre and split the shrine in two halves, one for Palestinian worshippers and the other for Israeli settlers.

Hebron, 32km from occupied East Jerusalem, is divided into two areas: H1, which is under the complete administrative and security control of Palestine Authority (PA); and H2, administratively run by the PA but controlled by the Israeli military, which has the final say on who enters and exits the area.

Some 40,000 Palestinians live in H2, adjacent to 1,000 Israeli settlers, monitored by 18 permanently staffed Israeli military checkpoints.

Israeli forces maintain a heavy presence in Hebron’s Old City, as Palestinians are not allowed to walk in certain areas, such as Shuhada Street, once a thriving wholesale market that was shut down by ‘Israel’ and turned into a ghost town during the Second Intifada in 2000.

The city of Hebron is monitored intensely by Israeli forces and police. Surveillance cameras have been mounted every 90 metres in H2, with some installed on the roofs of private houses, leaving Palestinian residents feeling they are constantly being watched.

UNESCO World Heritage body in July 2017 has recognised the old city of Hebron, including Ibrahimi Mosque as a Palestinian world heritage site.

Herzog is the second-highest ranking Israeli politician to visit Hebron in recent years.

In September 2019, then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israeli premier to visit Hebron, participating in a ceremony along with settler leaders in the Ibrahimi Mosque in a bid to boost his votes during an election campaign.