Arab League Council rejects changes to Ibrahimi Mosque status

The Arab League Council has reaffirmed its complete rejection of any attempts to alter the current status of the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings in the Old City of Hebron, including efforts to restrict access, silence the call to prayer, desecrate the site, alter its features, or separate it from its Palestinian context. The council held Israeli forces fully responsible for these violations.

The council stressed the importance of upholding full Palestinian sovereignty over the mosque and its vicinity, describing it as an Islamic endowment administered by the Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Endowments. It warned that Israeli attempts to Judaise the site are part of broader efforts to impose control, calling on the international community to uphold and implement its resolutions.

This came in a statement on the Israeli government plans to revoke Hebron municipality’s authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings in the Old City, issued at the conclusion of an extraordinary session of the council at the level of permanent representatives.

The meeting was chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, at the request of the State of Palestine and with the support of member states. Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, and permanent ambassadors of member states were present.

The council reaffirmed the 2017 UNESCO decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Old City of Hebron on the list of World Heritage in Danger, stating that current developments constitute a clear violation of this ruling.

The council reiterated that Israel holds no sovereignty over Palestinian land and heritage sites. It warned that the illegal Israeli plan marks an unprecedented escalation aimed at altering the original identity of the site, erasing the authentic heritage of the Palestinian people, and undermining their exclusive sovereignty. It stressed that such actions would have grave consequences for all religious sanctities and regional stability.

The council also called for compliance with the 1997 agreement signed between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel, which stipulates that the administration of the Ibrahimi Mosque remains under the authority of Hebron Municipality.

It condemned all Israeli practices aimed at exerting full control over large parts of Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque, implementing colonial changes to the historical and legal reality, and preventing Palestinian residents from accessing the site. It urged the United Nations Secretary-General to take effective measures to protect civilians in Hebron.

The council emphasised the need to dispatch an urgent monitoring mission to the city in line with previous decisions of the World Heritage Committee, to assess the severity of these developments. It also called for renewed diplomatic efforts to monitor and document Israeli violations in Hebron, particularly at the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Furthermore, the council urged the UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion and human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories to document these violations. It also requested Arab League missions and councils of Arab ambassadors to convey the contents of the resolution to their host capitals.

WAM