RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Israel has refused to open all hallways of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron for prayer on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said on Wednesday.

Laylat al-Qadr is the holiest night in Islam, when the Holy Quran was first revealed. It falls on one of the odd nights in the last 10 days of Ramadan.

“This is an arbitrary and dangerous precedent in this holy place, a brazen provocation of Muslim sentiments, and a lack of respect for the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan and the Ibrahimi Mosque complex,” Awqaf Minister Mohamed Najm said in a statement.

He called on Palestinians to mobilize and gather at the mosque “to affirm Palestinian Islamic presence there.”

“This is the best way to counter this invasive occupation in these difficult times for the Palestinian people,” the minister stressed.

The Ibrahimi Mosque is located in the Old City of Hebron, which is under Israeli occupation. It is home to around 400 illegal settlers guarded by approximately 1,500 Israeli soldiers.

In 1994, following a massacre by an illegal settler that killed 29 Palestinian worshipers, Israel divided the mosque, allocating 63% of its area to Jews, including the prayer room, and 37% to Muslims.

It is customary for the mosque to be fully opened to Muslims only 10 days a year, including Fridays and Laylat al-Qadr during Ramadan.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank, where at least 938 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.