Hebron, West Bank, June 17 - Israel has authorised the enlargement of a Jewish school located in the heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron, approving a 1,000 square metre structure for settlers living amid the Palestinian population in the city centre.
The announcement was made by Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich. It came one day after he said he had scrapped an arrangement that had granted the Palestinian municipality control over certain planning and construction decisions around Hebron’s historic core, an area that contains a contested holy site.
The area around the Cave of the Patriarchs - a site venerated by Muslims, Jews and Christians - is home to an enclave of Jewish settlers numbering more than 1,000 who live within a city that otherwise contains tens of thousands of Palestinians. The enclave operates under full Israeli security control.
Under the terms of the 1997 Hebron Agreement, Israeli forces remain deployed in the enclave, but construction in and around the city’s historic core has generally required approval from the Palestinian municipality, including in areas near the shrine. Palestinians argue that the newly approved building and the recent administrative changes contravene that long-standing arrangement.
Smotrich framed the school expansion as part of a broader policy. In a statement he said: "We are continuing to build the Land of Israel in practice and to implement practical sovereignty in the settlements," and he has expressed his opposition to the idea of Palestinian statehood.
Palestinian voices in Hebron responded with alarm. Issa Amro, a local activist, warned that dismantling parts of the Hebron Agreement could deprive Palestinian residents of basic municipal services. He said the measures were intended to make life intolerable for Palestinians and to force them from their homes.
"It means ethnic cleansing of Palestinian families from their homes, and more displacement,"
Amro added that the actions represented the theft of Palestinian aspirations for a state and for lives "and to live without violence, without fear, with peace".
The approved construction, the cancellation of the prior planning arrangement and the enclave’s location around a sensitive religious site make Hebron a focal point for tensions between Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents. The steps taken by the Israeli government and the reaction from Palestinian activists underscore competing claims over planning authority and daily life in the city.