The Chabad Rabbinical Court in Israel filed an urgent petition with the Jerusalem District Court, sitting as the Court for Administrative Affairs, demanding an interim injunction ordering the immediate halt of construction, paving, earthworks, and the placement of structures in the Chabad section of the ancient Jewish cemetery in Hebron.
The petition claims that extensive earthworks have recently been carried out at the site, infrastructure has been installed, an elevated access road has been paved, and caravans have been placed there for residential and other purposes.
According to the petitioners, the work is being carried out without the required permits and in an area of historical and archaeological sensitivity that forms part of Hebron's ancient cemetery.
The site, which has served Hebron's Ashkenazic community for approximately 170 years, contains the graves of prominent figures in the history of the city's Jewish community, including Menucha Rachel Slonim, daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe of Lubavitch, Rabbi Shimon Menashe Chaikin, and Rabbi Hillel Moshe Gelbstein.
The petition states that professional and halakhic opinions, including that of Rabbi Yaakov Roza, chairman of the Chief Rabbinate's Committee for the Honor of the Deceased, as well as archaeological assessments, indicate a significant concern that graves and burial caves at the site could be damaged.
It further states that despite repeated appeals to the authorities demanding that the work be stopped and the area restored to its previous condition, activity at the site has continued.
In the petition, the petitioners ask the court to order an immediate halt to the work, the removal of the caravans, infrastructure, and access road installed at the site, and the establishment of an oversight mechanism to prevent further damage to the cemetery.