Israeli Cabinet Approves Transfer of Hebron Municipality Powers to Occupation Authorities

SadaNews - The Hebron Municipality denounces and rejects the approval of the Israeli cabinet for decisions that transfer the powers of licensing, construction, and municipal management in the city of Hebron from the Hebron Municipality to the occupation authorities or what is referred to as the "Israeli Civil Administration," in addition to establishing a separate settler municipal entity within the city.

The Hebron Municipality confirms that these decisions constitute a direct and illegal violation of its legal and administrative powers, and a breach of the provisions of international humanitarian law and the rules of military occupation that prohibit making structural and permanent changes in occupied territories.

The municipality warns that withdrawing planning and municipal powers, especially in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque, represents an unlawful and dangerous alteration to the existing religious, administrative, and security situation, threatening freedom of worship and public order, infringing upon the rights of Palestinian residents, and impacting the social and economic fabric of life in Hebron.

The Hebron Municipality also considers that establishing an independent settler municipal entity within the city is a measure based on isolating Palestinian citizens and seizing as much Palestinian land as possible under a settler jurisdiction, coming in the context of a policy of imposing facts on the ground and actual annexation, targeting the Palestinian presence in Hebron.

Attorney Samer Shhada, representing the Hebron Municipality, stated that the cabinet's decisions reflect a dangerous encroachment on the system of civil and municipal powers, aiming to transfer sovereign powers from Palestinian entities to the occupation authorities without any legal basis or granted authority, in stark violation of international law and the signed binding agreements. Shhada added that these decisions were made without following proper administrative procedures or conducting hearings or serious examinations of their repercussions, rendering them illegal, disproportionate, and unreasonable, warranting their annulment.

The Hebron Municipality calls on the international community, the Security Council, the United Nations, and all relevant international bodies to intervene immediately and urgently to stop these serious assaults targeting the municipality and the city of Hebron, and to fulfill their legal responsibilities in protecting the rights of Palestinian citizens and halting this unlawful encroachment.