DaysofPal- In a move widely viewed as emblematic of Israel’s broader policy toward the occupied West Bank, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stood before a gathering of settlers on a hill south of Hebron and declared what he described as the effective end of a nearly three-decade-old international agreement. Palestinian officials and observers warned that the step signals the beginning of a new phase of organized Judaization in the largest city of the southern West Bank.
The announcement came during a ceremony marking the laying of the foundation stone for a new settlement south of Hebron, attended by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. Smotrich declared that planning and construction authority would be fully removed from the Palestinian Municipality of Hebron and transferred to Israeli occupation authorities, a move he characterized as effectively nullifying the Hebron Protocol signed in 1997.
A Fragile Framework
Signed on January 17, 1997, the Hebron Protocol divided the city into two sectors. The first, known as H1, falls under Palestinian administration and encompasses roughly 80 percent of the city and the majority of its population. The second, H2, remains under direct Israeli control and includes large sections of southern and eastern Hebron, most notably the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque.
For nearly three decades, the agreement has served as the legal and political framework governing relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli authorities in the city, despite persistent tensions stemming from the presence of Israeli settlers living in the heart of Hebron’s Old City among a much larger Palestinian population.
Diplomatic Denials
Israel’s Foreign Ministry quickly sought to downplay the significance of Smotrich’s remarks, insisting that the Hebron Protocol had not been formally canceled. Officials argued that the decision approved by the Israeli security cabinet merely concerned planning and construction powers related to the Jewish community in the city.
However, those explanations appeared to contradict statements made by Israeli officials themselves. Knesset West Bank Committee Chairman Zvi Sukkot openly acknowledged that Israel would now be the sole authority responsible for approving construction projects without Palestinian Authority involvement, effectively ending the agreement regardless of the official terminology used.
The move comes within a broader context of accelerated settlement expansion. According to the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved at least 103 new settlement sites across the West Bank since taking office approximately three and a half years ago. These include new settlements, previously unauthorized outposts that have since been legalized, and independent settlement neighborhoods.
Palestinian Condemnation
Palestinian reactions were swift and unanimous in rejecting the decision. The Palestinian presidency warned of the dangers posed by unilateral Israeli measures affecting signed agreements, describing them as a blatant violation of international law and calling on the international community, particularly the United States, to intervene and prevent the systematic undermining of the two-state solution.
Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin condemned the move as a “terrorist decision,” stressing that Hebron is occupied territory and not subject to the authority of any Israeli government. He emphasized that both the Ibrahimi Mosque and Hebron’s Old City are listed by UNESCO as Palestinian heritage sites and urged greater Palestinian presence in the area while calling on the international community to break its silence.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Religious Endowments and Religious Affairs Mohammed Najm argued that the targeting of Hebron forms part of a broader campaign aimed at undermining the city’s religious and national significance. He called for unified official and popular efforts to protect the Ibrahimi Mosque as an Islamic endowment and an integral component of Palestinian identity.
Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad warned that the implications of the Israeli decision extend far beyond Hebron, describing it as part of a wider annexation strategy targeting the entire occupied West Bank.
In separate statements, the two groups characterized the move as an unprecedented escalation and an attempt to impose irreversible facts on the ground. While Islamic Jihad criticized ongoing international and Arab silence regarding Israeli policies, Hamas called on the United Nations and the broader international community to take urgent action to halt the measures.
Part of a Broader Annexation Drive
Observers note that developments in Hebron cannot be separated from broader Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this year, Smotrich announced plans to register vast areas of West Bank land as “state land,” marking an unprecedented step since Israel’s occupation of the territory in 1967.
The measures now being implemented in Hebron are widely viewed as part of that broader strategy, one that gradually reshapes the political and geographic reality of the West Bank through a series of administrative and legal measures. Critics argue that these policies are advancing in the absence of meaningful international deterrence, raising concerns about the future of Palestinian territorial continuity and prospects for a negotiated political settlement.
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