Since Tuesday morning, the Israeli army has imposed a curfew until next Thursday in several Palestinian neighborhoods in central Hebron, southern West Bank, citing the arrival of Jewish holidays.

Arif Jaber, a member of the Hebron Defense Committee (NGO), stated that “the occupation army closed several neighborhoods at 6 a.m. (GMT+3) and announced the curfew.”

He added: “The army prevented people from walking in the streets and forced them to close their shops.”

He continued: “We were informed that the curfew and area closure will continue until next Thursday under the pretext of the Jewish holidays.”

The closure includes Wadi Al-Hussein neighborhood, Jaber neighborhood, and Al-Salaymeh neighborhood, which is home to about 2,500 residents and extends along a street hundreds of meters long connecting the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City with the Kiryat Arba settlement to the north.

Palestinian neighborhoods in the Old City of Hebron have been under a strict siege since the destructive war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, including restrictions on movement and curfews most days.

On Tuesday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs condemned Israel’s decision to close the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to worshipers for three days for the same reason.

Israel will begin its Yom Kippur celebrations on Wednesday evening, lasting until Thursday evening.

The Ibrahimi Mosque is located in the Old City under full Israeli control, where about 400 settlers live, guarded by approximately 1,500 Israeli soldiers.

In 1994, Israel divided the mosque with 63% allocated to Jews and 37% to Muslims, following a massacre committed by a Jewish settler that killed 29 Palestinian worshipers. The Jewish section includes the prayer call room.

According to unilateral Israeli arrangements, the mosque is completely closed to Muslims for 10 days a year during Jewish religious occasions, and completely closed to Jews for 10 days during Islamic religious occasions.

However, since the start of the extermination war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the mosque has not been fully opened to Muslims during their occasions.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in 66,055 deaths and 168,346 injuries, mostly children and women, and famine that claimed the lives of 442 Palestinians including 147 children.