Israel Approves Jewish School Expansion in Hebron as Smotrich Cancels Hebron Accords

Israel approved expansion plans for a Jewish school in Hebron’s historic core and, in parallel, Bezalel Smotrich said he had canceled parts of the 1997 Hebron Accords while announcing that planning and construction powers would be transferred away from the Palestinian municipality.

The Straits Times reported that Smotrich said the school building approval for a 1,000-square-metre site would “create facts on the ground” to prevent a Palestinian state, and it placed the decision in the context of the Cave of the Patriarchs enclave in Hebron.

Agence Media Palestine

The Hürriyet Daily News described Smotrich’s June 16 move as stripping Palestinians of administrative authority over the Cave of the Patriarchs, with Smotrich saying in a Telegram post that “many authorities previously granted in Hebron and at the holy sites … are no longer under the control of the Hebron Municipality.”

The Straits Times also said the enclave around the Cave of the Patriarchs is home to more than 1,000 Jewish settlers living among tens of thousands of Palestinians under complete Israeli security control, and it noted that the 1997 Hebron Agreement required approvals from the Palestinian municipality for construction around the shrine.

Palestinian officials and the Palestinian Authority condemned the shift, with the Hürriyet Daily News quoting the Palestinian Authority office of Mahmoud Abbas saying the move “constitute a violation of signed agreements with the Israeli side,” while calling it a violation of existing agreements and international law.

In the same reporting stream, the Straits Times quoted Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist who lives in Hebron, saying he feared dismantling parts of the Hebron Agreement would leave residents without basic services and that it was aimed at making life miserable for Palestinians and forcing them to leave.

Al Jazeera

Amro’s warning was framed as a threat to Palestinian life in Hebron, and he said, “It means ethnic cleansing of Palestinian families from their homes, and more displacement,” describing Israel’s actions as stealing Palestinian dreams to have a state “and to live without violence, without fear, with peace”.

The Straits Times also recorded that Jewish residents welcomed Smotrich’s announcement, with Eyal Gelman saying, “The excitement is great and the understanding that from here we're expanding and growing,” as Hebron would become “much more Zionist, national, Jewish, expanding” across the city of patriarchs.

The Straits Times said Smotrich linked the planning approvals to preventing Palestinian statehood, and it reported that he told reporters the approvals would “create facts on the ground” to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Straits Times also placed the Hebron changes alongside earlier steps approved by Netanyahu’s security cabinet to make it easier for settlers to buy land in the West Bank and to give Israeli authorities more enforcement powers, while Palestinian officials said those steps amounted to de facto annexation.

In parallel, the DW report said Smotrich canceled a three-decade-old agreement with the Palestinian Authority and wrote on X that powers in Hebron and at sacred sites “would revert entirely to the responsibility of the State of Israel,” describing the move as a “historic correction.”

DW further reported that Peace Now criticized the decision as “a dangerous and irresponsible step by a failed politician,” and it said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned of the danger and called on the international community to intervene immediately to reverse the decision.