Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Palestinians have been stripped of administrative authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, in a move likely to deepen concerns over Israeli control of the holy site.
“The meaning of this decision is that many authorities previously granted in Hebron and at the holy sites … are no longer under the control of the Hebron Municipality,” Smotrich said.
The far-right minister made the remarks while attending a ceremony marking the laying of the foundation stone for a new Israeli settlement near Hebron.
Describing the move as “much more than a planning step”, Smotrich said it represented “a step … of practical sovereignty, of governance”.
Israel has steadily expanded its control over the Ibrahimi Mosque and surrounding areas over recent decades, closing large parts of Hebron’s Old City and imposing restrictions that have severely affected Palestinian access and daily life.
