RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved on June 10 the implementation of a project to install an electric elevator and build a road to facilitate access for settlers with special needs to the Ibrahimi Mosque (the Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron in the southern West Bank. The project entails seizing the lands surrounding the mosque.
According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Gantz instructed the Israeli coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories to issue a building permit for the project and conclude a contract with a contractor to start work and complete the relevant procedures.