Alwaght- Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs warned on Sunday that the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil (Hebron) is being subjected to intensified Israeli attempts aimed at Judaizing the site and altering its status quo.
The Ministry said in a statement that a group of Zionist settlers have recently published a short film on a Hebrew website showing falsified pictures of the Mosque's courtyards flooded with rainwater.
The statement noted that the Zionist film presents incorrect facts about the Ibrahimi Mosque and calls for it to be roofed under the pretext that this measure will protect it in summer and winter.
The Awqaf Ministry added that what would really protect the holy site is to allow the Ministry to conduct the necessary technical work there to allow a proper discharge of rainwater, expressing its complete rejection of the Israeli plan which would adversely affect the Mosque at different levels.
The Ministry called on the international community and its legal and cultural institutions to work to stop the Israeli repeated violations committed against the Palestinian religious and historical sites.
July last year, UNESCO has approved a Palestine-proposed resolution, declaring the Old City of al-Khalil a protected heritage site in a secret ballot despite Israeli attempts to thwart the vote.
The UN’s cultural arm voted 12 to three -- with six abstentions -- to give heritage status to al-Khalil Hebron in the occupied West Bank, which is home to more than 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers.
The vote irked the regime in Tel Aviv, which had been involved in a campaign to thwart the UNESCO vote.
