Israel seizes power over occupied West Bank mosque from Palestinians

Hebron’s politician warns unilateral changes breach agreements, posing important consequences for the region’s stability.

Israel has seized readying and operation powers astatine the Ibrahimi Mosque successful the occupied West Bank ⁠from Palestinian authorities, scrapping parts of an statement successful spot since the 1990s, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said connected Tuesday.

Under the 1997 Hebron Agreement, Palestinians controlled readying and operation successful the full metropolis of Hebron, including the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the adjoining Ibrahimi Mosque.

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“Yesterday we cancelled the Hebron agreements,” Smotrich said astatine an inauguration ceremonial for the Doran colony successful the confederate Mount Hebron area.

While the determination was made connected Monday nighttime by Israel’s Higher Planning Council, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said successful a tweet that “contrary to the concern minister’s statements, the Hebron Agreement was not canceled”.

It added that a furniture determination made months agone had addressed readying and operation authorization successful the Jewish colony and astatine Jewish practice sites only, citing what it called a implicit deficiency of practice from the Hebron municipality.

“Beyond that, nary alteration has occurred,” it said.

The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, condemned Smotrich’s announcement arsenic unlawful.

“Such unilateral measures are unacceptable and represent a usurpation of the agreements signed by the Israeli side, arsenic good arsenic planetary law,” the bureau of President Mahmoud Abbas said successful a statement, calling connected the planetary assemblage and the United States successful peculiar to intervene instantly to halt “this astir unsafe step”.

Hebron Mayor Yusuf al-Jabari said the agreements represent “a governmental model governing Hebron’s administrative, information and work arrangements”, and that immoderate unilateral modification extracurricular existing planetary understandings amounted to “a superior breach” with far-reaching consequences.

A drone presumption shows the Ibrahimi Mosque, which Jewish radical telephone the Tomb of the Patriarchs, successful Hebron successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank [File: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters]

The Hebron Agreement, signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and erstwhile PLO president Yasser Arafat, divided the metropolis into 2 sectors.

Israel retained information power implicit H2,which includes the Jewish colony and the Ibrahimi Mosque, besides known arsenic the Cave of the Patriarchs, portion civilian powers, including readying and construction, remained with the Palestinian municipality.

The mosque has agelong been a focal constituent for settlers, who took power of fractional the tract pursuing the archetypal protocol. In 2017, Palestine inscribed Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque connected the World Heritage and World Heritage successful Danger lists maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“After the authorities promised triumph and failed connected each fronts, Smotrich the pyromaniac is trying to acceptable the West Bank connected fire,” said Israeli bid radical Peace Now, adding that the determination was politically motivated.

“This is simply a unsafe and irresponsible measurement of a failed person who is acceptable to harm Israel’s interests and information successful bid to stitchery a fewer votes from the utmost right,” it said.

Palestinians accidental the determination is the latest successful a bid of steps towards Israel’s de facto annexation of the West Bank.