Massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron

Massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron:

On the morning of Friday, the fifteenth day of the month of Ramadan 1414 AH, corresponding to 25/2/1994, during dawn prayers “The terrorist settler, Baruch Goldstein, who was wearing a military uniform and carrying his weapon infiltrated the region, disregarding all feelings and values he started shooting at worshipers who were prostrating in the heart of the Ibrahimi Mosque. Dozens of them fell.

The number of martyrs in this massacre reached twenty-nine martyrs inside the mosque, and thirty one outside and more than one hundred and fifty wounded. “[i]

This ugly, indescribable massacre constituted the height of the bloody terrorism committed by the state of terrorism and gangs of Jewish settlers in the Hebron area, which brings to mind the Dawayima massacre of 1948, where Jews killed the elderly and children of the village who had taken refuge in the mosque when the village was captured by Jewish gangs.

In the aftermath of the massacre, the occupation authorities imposed a curfew on the city while the Jews made certain arrangements inside the Haram transforming it into a synagogue, under the pretext of sorting it between Muslims and Jews. The introduced changes made this conversion durable and permanent.

4-6-1- The massacre as described by witnesses:

–    The witnesses said:

The Israeli settler who committed the massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque, carried out the operation under the eyes and ears of soldiers guarding the mosque who did not lift a finger to prevent the killer who used several ammunition storages.[ii]

• Mohammed Suleiman Abu Saleh, a mosque guard of 33 years old, who was on shift during the massacre said:

At least 800 people were inside Al-Ibrahimi mosque the moment of the accident and the armed man was trying to kill as many as possible. Bodies were strewn on the floor of the mosque and the floor of the mosque was full of blood, some of the people tried to escape but fell on the ground.”

–    Abu Saleh said to Reuters

“I shouted loudly for the soldiers to come and stop him but they ran away. He charged his gun at least once and killed at least seven people, their brains scattered on the ground. He continued shooting for ten minutes and the army did not intervene before the massacre was over.”

–    A United Nations staff member from the Palestinian Relief Agency was inside the mosque He told reporters hours after the accident

“Stairs are covered with blood and body parts.”

Life stopped in the occupied territories, in which some two million Palestinians live, and shops closed while the population was burying the martyrs of the massacre.

In the Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, the situation was a witness to the heinous crime. The martyrs and the wounded Palestinians in the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre were there, and there were, as well, the victims of the Israeli soldiers stationed near the medical foundation.

The chaos was general and comprehensive.Hundreds of Palestinians from Hebron were questioning about the fate of relatives with fear as the news of the massacre was spreading.

Others came to deliver water and medicine. Small trucks were used to transport medicines and bandages collected by the pharmacists of the city as well as any available oxygen bottles and mineral water; while the ambulances turned on their sirens, trying to make their way to the hospital.

Palestinians, who were angry, threw stones at Israeli soldiers who were on the edge of the adjacent road to the hospital and shouted slogans of fire and redemption “with blood and soul we will redeem you, oh martyr.”

[i]. Palestinian newspapers 26/2/1994.

[ii]. Details as stated in the Palestinian press on 26-27-28-29-30/2/1994.