Israeli forces prevented on Tuesday Muslim worshipers from accessing Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli forces closed all military checkpoints and electronic gates leading to the mosque and prevented residents from crossing to reach it for prayers.
Forces reportedly prevented worshipers outside the mosque from praying and allowed the entry of only 50 people.
The Mosque's director, Hefthi Abu Sneineh, condemned these measures, which he stressed are an infringement on Islamic holy sanctities sponsored by international covenants that guarantee the right to religious freedom.
Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh declared an end to the two-months long lockdown on the Palestinian territories that was declared early in March with the discovery of the first coronavirus cases in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, allowing a return to normal life including the opening of mosques and churches.
Israeli police had attacked worshipers early this week while performing Eid prayers outside the Aqsa Mosque compound.
Several elderly Muslims were wounded at the revered site in occupied East Jerusalem.
WAFA reported that Israeli forces used batons and rifle butts during the attack.
Also, Israeli police banned Tuesday Aqsa Mosque guard Hamza Nimr from entering Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for six months.
Israeli authorities summoned Nimr for interrogation and handed him an order banning him from entering the mosque after he opposed the entry of an Israeli police officer into Dome of the Rock, the golden dome mosque within al-Haram al-Sharif compound that also includes the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.
