Israel Transfers Control of Hebron Holy Site from Palestinians
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday the transfer of authority over the Cave of Patriarchs, known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, in the occupied West Bank. The management of the revered site in Hebron will now fall under an Israeli committee controlled by Smotrich, rather than the Palestinian municipality. This decision drew immediate and strong condemnation from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and the Hebron municipality, who cited violations of signed agreements and international law.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated on Tuesday that Palestinians have been stripped of authority over the Cave of Patriarchs site, also known as the Ibrahimi Mosque, located in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Smotrich announced that the management of this significant holy site would be transferred to an Israeli committee under his control.
Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. The Cave of the Patriarchs is situated within H2, an Israeli-controlled sector of the city. The site is revered by Jews, Muslims, and Christians as the burial place of Abraham and other biblical patriarchs.
In a statement posted on his Telegram channel, Smotrich indicated that the site would no longer be administered by the Hebron municipality. He described the move as “much more than a planning step,” characterizing it as a step towards “practical sovereignty, of governance.” Smotrich made these remarks while attending an event to lay the foundation stone for a new Israeli settlement near Hebron.
The decision quickly drew widespread condemnation from Palestinian officials. The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected the measure outright. Abbas’s office stated that such unilateral actions are “rejected and condemned,” constituting “a violation of signed agreements with the Israeli side, as well as a breach of international law.” The Hebron municipality also issued a statement condemning Smotrich’s announcement, which occurred on the day marking the Islamic new year.
A 1997 protocol had previously left the management of most of the complex in Palestinian hands. Palestinian officials contend that Israel has steadily eroded this arrangement in recent years. Yonatan Mizrahi, co-director of Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, confirmed that a Higher Planning Council meeting on Wednesday finalized the decision to transfer these responsibilities from the Palestinian municipality of Hebron to Israel. Minutes from the planning meeting further confirmed this decision.
According to Dawn Pakistan, the Israeli minister’s move impacts a site in a sector of Hebron that houses approximately 40,000 Palestinians alongside about 200 Israeli settler families.
