RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israel on Sunday closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron to Muslim worshippers for two days due to Jewish holidays, according to the mosque director.

“Israeli forces closed the Ibrahimi Mosque and prevented the entry of Muslim worshipers, while Israeli settlers were allowed,” Ghassan Al-Rajabi told Anadolu.

He said the mosque will remain closed until Monday evening.

Palestinian activist Aref Jaber said the Israeli army erected military checkpoints in the vicinity of the mosque ahead of the Passover celebration.

The activist expected the arrival of tens of thousands of settlers from across the occupied West Bank to the mosque to celebrate the Jewish holiday.

Revered by both Muslims and Jews, Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque complex is believed to be the burial site of the prophets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

After the 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian worshippers inside the mosque by a Jewish extremist settler, Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli authorities divided the mosque complex between Muslim and Jewish worshippers.

* Ikram Kouachi contributed to this report