RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett issued an expropriation order May 12 for a portion of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, part of a project to build an elevator to facilitate access to the mosque.

In response, head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian Authority Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted that Bennett’s decision “to confiscate and annex parts of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron abolishes the Hebron protocol and puts an end to the agreement signed between the PLO and Israel, as well as constitutes a continuation of the annexation project in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett approved a settlement project in the southern West Bank city of Hebron May 3. The project involves the seizure of Palestinian lands to building a corridor and an elevator to facilitate access to Ibrahimi Mosque.

According to Maariv, Bennett instructed Israeli military liaison to the Palestinian territories Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon to take all necessary measures to implement the project without delay. Israel’s judicial authorities and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had endorsed the project.