Today, Sunday, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs issued a special report on the occupation’s violations of Islamic and Christian holy sites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the year 2024.

The Ministry of Endowments said in its report that the Israeli occupation, during its ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of last year, completely destroyed (815) mosques, partially destroyed (151) mosques, completely destroyed (19) cemeteries, and violated their sanctity by attacking them, digging up their graves, and removing the bodies, and targeted and destroyed (3) churches in Gaza City.

She added that the Israeli occupation attacked Al-Aqsa Mosque by allowing terrorist settler gangs to storm it and desecrate its courtyards and benches, with (256) incursions during the past year, during which the settlers practiced Talmudic rituals, which have become practiced on a daily basis, such as the epic prostration that began on 8/13/2024, where this prostration was practiced by Knesset member "Moshe Feiglin" for the first time, in addition to blowing the trumpet and wearing prayer clothes in a clear demonstration of their practice inside Al-Aqsa, which is practiced in a specific place and at specific times in a clear consecration of the temporal and spatial division, and all of this under the supervision and protection of the occupation police, which permanently prevents the guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque affiliated with the Jerusalem Endowments Department from doing their work during these incursions.

She pointed out that the so-called "Temple Groups" had facilitated the Jewish New Year celebrations for settlers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during the past year, and that "Temple Mount activists" had incited the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque, by publishing a video clip showing the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and attached to it the comment: "Soon in these days."

On the anniversary of the alleged destruction of the Temple, the settlers performed collective rituals for the first time in the western area opposite the Dome of the Rock, and the eastern area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is treated as an undeclared “synagogue.”

The ministry explained in its report that the terrorist Ben Gvir, supported by his far-right government, had stormed Al-Aqsa (7) times since he assumed office, and 4 times since the start of the war on Gaza. He issued a number of far-right statements in which he threatened to establish a Jewish synagogue in Al-Aqsa Mosque, in reference to controlling it. He also worked to intensify the Jewish presence through government support and giving it legal cover.

The report indicated that (2567) settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, and during it they committed numerous violations, the most prominent of which was the storming of "Ben Gvir", and Rabbi Yisrael Shalita performed Talmudic rituals, and practiced dancing, singing, and epic prostration.

The Ibrahimi Mosque:

Regarding the Ibrahimi Mosque, the occupation forces practiced their violations on a daily basis, whether by preventing the call to prayer from being made there, which has been made approximately (674) times since the beginning of the year, or by restricting Muslims by preventing them and closing it (10) times during the same period.

The occupation also installed the so-called "candelabrum" and Israeli flags on the roof and walls of the Ibrahimi Mosque, and held noisy parties and Talmudic rituals in the occupied section, and practiced banging on the doors, shouting, cursing and swearing. The occupation also obstructed the celebrations of the Prophet's birthday inside the mosque.

The report indicated that the number of worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque during the year 2024 amounted to only 236,530 worshipers, and this number is considered less than expected due to the strict measures imposed by the occupation, including the closure of the entrances to the mosque since October 7, 2023, which hindered the arrival of large numbers of worshipers.

3,381 Israeli soldiers stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque during the year, in a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the religious site and a provocation of the feelings of Muslims. The occupation intensified the checkpoints around the mosque and closed all its entrances, leaving only the market gate, which made it more difficult for Palestinians to reach it.

The report pointed out that despite the Israeli restrictions on movement and the continued closure of the entrances to the Ibrahimi Mosque, it received only 12,663 tourists during the year 2024.

The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned the dangerous plans to be implemented towards the Ibrahimi Mosque, which were announced by a member of the Knesset from the ruling Likud Party in Israel, who called for the nationalization of the Ibrahimi Mosque, controlling it, and placing it completely under Israeli sovereignty by canceling what is related to Palestinian sovereignty over it in the Oslo Accords, and returning it to the hands of Israel by seizing it gradually.

Places of worship:

As for the rest of the places of worship and mosques, the Israeli occupation attacked (20) mosques in different areas in the West Bank, with a clear focus on the Tulkarm and Jenin governorates, either by partially destroying a number of facilities or by desecrating them with writing and mocking Islamic rituals.

The Ministry of Endowments monitored in its report a number of attacks on holy places and Christian worshippers, as extremist Jewish religious groups attacked and spat on Christian pilgrims in the occupied city of Jerusalem, specifically in the area of the Church of the Prison of Christ.

They were also restricted during Christian holidays and prevented from reaching the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Resurrection.

The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs called on the international community to force the occupation to stop these violations, which have become increasingly frequent, especially with the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip.