Israel says Palestinians stripped of authority over Ibrahimi Mosque Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Palestinians have been stripped of administrative authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, in a move likely to deepen concerns over Israeli control of the holy site. "The meaning of this decision is that many authorities previously granted in Hebron and at the holy sites ... are no longer under the control of the Hebron Municipality," Smotrich said.