Since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has spared no effort in its war and systematic targeting of the most important and ancient historical and tourist gates of the city wall, in an attempt to Judaize it and obliterate its features and its Islamic identity, preparing for transforming it into a Talmudic tourist complex.

Hebron Gate is the second largest and most beautiful gate of the gates in the Jerusalem wall after the Damascus Gate. It is located in the western wall of the Old City and it was known in the early Islamic era as the Mihrab Dawud Gate, the Gate of David in the Frankish period, and currently it is known as Jaffa Gate or Hebron Gate.

The door was built from stones similar to the doors of the old city, which distinguished by its huge size and color similar to the color of sand. The entrance is 6 meters high and the wall is another six meters high. It consists of an entrance opening topped by a pointed stone arch, while the front of it embraces a memorial inscription on which the name of Suleiman, the Ottoman Sultan, was written as he is the one who built this gate.

It constitutes the main entrance to the city and its ancient history, and it is called the door of the Islamic conquests or the door of invaders as from which Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab entered Jerusalem when he conquered it.

It is the most used by pedestrians and cars. Omar bin Al-Khattab Square, which is one of the most famous squares in the Old City, has been expanded to connect with the shopping area outside Hebron Gate.

In the nineties of the last century, Israel began paving a new street near the gate, and excavations at the bottom of the gate revealed Byzantine antiquities, and in 2007 the occupation set up a huge commercial market from Hebron Gate to the Islamic cemetery of Maman Allah, west of Jerusalem.

In addition to the Israeli policy of targeting the landmarks of Jerusalem and its Islamic identity, the municipality of Israel implements a new tourism settlement project, which has been described as a “major beatifying process" for one of the most important tourist destinations in the city, represented in the Hebron Gate.

Continuous targeting

The researcher in Jerusalem affairs, Fakhri Abu Diab, told "Safa" that the Israeli municipality has been targeting the Hebron Gate for many years in a dangerous way, and is working to change its features and its Arab-Islamic character, through several Judaization projects that are still in the process of preparation and implementation.

He explains that Israel had previously established new paths connecting the Hebron Gate, the neighborhood of Alsharaf, and the Al-Buraq Wall with each other aiming to attract tourists and extremists in order to listen to misleading stories from Jewish guides about the city's history and its Islamic and Christian landmarks.

The period of Jewish holidays and events was often witnessed by the display of illuminated drawings on the wall of the Gate and its surroundings, narrating fabricated and forged stories about Jerusalem, its history, and its civilization.

He points out that the Israeli municipality recently intends to implement a huge tourism project in the region, as the planning committees completed their work, put maps and logistical matters, and began preparing the place with equipment and bulldozers for the implementation of this project during the year 2021.

The project includes the establishment of commercial squares, markets, tourist complexes, and an underground museum, for the arrival of foreign tourists and Jews to the Hebron Gate through several nearby squares.

According to Abu Diab, the Israeli government has allocated a budget of 40 million shekels to implement the largest transforming landmark operation in the region.

Israel had seized dozens of shops in the area, in order to establish a Jewish commercial complex and many of Jerusalem's real estate.

“Israel, in 2018, drew up a plan for the establishment of an underground train, starting from the Palestinian coast to the displaced village of Lifta, west of Jerusalem, and ending in the Old City and the Al-Buraq Wall, but it has not yet been implemented,” Abu Diab said.

He states that the so-called East Jerusalem Development Company supervises the implementation of the new settlement project in the Hebron Gate, as well as other projects aimeing to Judaize the city.

Change the landmarks

This project would change all the civilizational and historical features of the region and completely distort it, especially Omar bin Al-Khattab Square, and create squares to attract more Israelis and tourists and keep them away from the gates and markets of the Old City, create new alternative markets, and prevent them from dealing with Arab merchants.

“The new project is part of the policy of completely Judaizing Jerusalem and its entire history, and tightening the noose on Jerusalemites, and strangling their economy,” Abu Diab highlighted.

The Hebron Gate area, daily, witnesses the presence of thousands of foreign tourists and extremist Jews, despite the spread of COVID-19 Virus in Jerusalem, as it is considered the most important tourist attraction in the city.

“Israel has begun implementing a large-scale Judaization process in Jerusalem in order to finally settle the issue of the city, taking advantage of the rush of some Arab countries towards normalization,” Jamal Amr, professor of engineering architecture at Birzeit University, told Safa.

He adds that Israel is working to Judaize the Hebron Gate through its settlement and tourism projects, as it characterized by great historical and architectural importance, and it has been historically said about it that "everyone who invaded and conquered Jerusalem entered through this gate."

Amr explains that the aim of the new settlement project is to establish more tourist and commercial complexes and residential apartments in the place, in order to be a tourist destination for thousands of tourists and Jews.