Israel seizes power over occupied West Bank mosque from Palestinians
Key takeaways
- Hebron’s mayor warns unilateral changes breach agreements, posing significant consequences for the region’s stability.
- 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.
- “Yesterday we cancelled the Hebron agreements,” Smotrich said at an inauguration ceremony for the Doran settlement in the southern Mount Hebron area.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Hebron’s mayor warns unilateral changes breach agreements, posing significant consequences for the region’s stability.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Palestinians say the move is the latest in a series of steps towards Israel's de facto annexation of the West Bank [Mosab Shawer/Al Jazeera]By Heba Habib, AP and Reuters 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.