DaysofPal- Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich took part on Monday evening in provocative celebrations alongside thousands of settlers in the courtyard of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied city of Hebron.
The gathering coincided with the “Torch Festival,” during which Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism movement, was seen dancing and performing rituals among large crowds in the square facing the historic mosque.
Palestinian media sources reported that the celebrations form part of broader efforts to assert full control over the site and alter its Islamic character. The Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
These provocative moves come as a continuation of a decision taken by the Israeli occupation forces in July 2025 to transfer administrative powers over the site from the Hebron municipality to a settler-affiliated religious council. Palestinian officials have warned that this step aims to legitimize settler presence at the mosque while marginalizing the longstanding Palestinian role in managing the site.
They have described the move as part of a broader pattern of policies designed to consolidate Israeli control over key religious and historical landmarks in the occupied West Bank.
Elsewhere, Israeli occupation forces tightened restrictions on Palestinian movement by closing an iron gate along the road connecting the towns of Tuqu’ and Janata, east of Bethlehem. The closure has effectively isolated communities from one another, further complicating access to workplaces and agricultural lands and intensifying daily hardships for residents.
Accelerating Settlement Expansion
These developments come amid an unprecedented acceleration in Israeli settlement expansion under the current government, widely regarded as the most hardline in the country’s history. According to the Israeli organization Peace Now, approvals were granted for the construction of 54 new settlements in 2025 alone, a record figure seen as undermining prospects for a future Palestinian state.
In Hebron’s Old City, approximately 400 settlers live under heavy military protection from around 1,500 Israeli soldiers. This security presence has effectively turned the lives of thousands of Palestinian residents into a confined and heavily controlled environment.
These developments in the West Bank unfold alongside the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as human rights advocates continue to criticize the international community’s silence regarding the mounting Israeli violations across the Palestinian territories.
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