Hebron’s mayor warns unilateral changes breach agreements, posing significant consequences for the region’s stability. Published On 16 Jun 202616 Jun 2026Israel has seized planning and construction powers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank from Palestinian authorities, scrapping parts of an agreement in place since the 1990s, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday.Under the 1997 Hebron Agreement, Palestinians controlled planning and construction in the entire city of Hebron, including the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the adjoining Ibrahimi Mosque.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“Yesterday we cancelled the Hebron agreements,” Smotrich said at an inauguration ceremony for the Doran settlement in the southern Mount Hebron area.While the decision was made on Monday night by Israel’s Higher Planning Council, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a tweet that “contrary to the finance minister’s statements, the Hebron Agreement was not canceled”.It added that a cabinet decision made months ago had addressed planning and construction authority in the Jewish settlement and at Jewish heritage sites only, citing what it called a complete lack of cooperation from the Hebron municipality.“Beyond that, no change has occurred,” it said.The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, condemned Smotrich’s announcement as unlawful.“Such unilateral measures are unacceptable and constitute a violation of the agreements signed by the Israeli side, as well as international law,” the office of President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement, calling on the international community and the United States in particular to intervene immediately to stop “this most dangerous step”. Advertisement Hebron Mayor Yusuf al-Jabari said the agreements constitute “a political framework governing Hebron’s administrative, security and service arrangements”, and that any unilateral modification outside existing international understandings amounted to “a serious breach” with f …
