Hevron
HevronFLASH90

The Palestinian Authority governor for Arab communities in the Hevron district has warned Israel that the recent decision to remove the Jewish community in Hevron from the municipal infrastructure and link it to the nearby Israeli city of Kiryat Arba effectively nullified the Hevron agreement of 1997, and would have serious consequences for the region.

In 1997, the first Netanyahu government signed the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron with the Palestinian Authority, partitioning the city of Hevron into two sectors, H1 and H2. H1, which encompassed close to 80% of the city, was put under PA control, while H2, where the city’s Jewish population and a minority of Arabs lived, was kept under Israeli control. Both areas remained part of the Hevron municipality, however.

Last week, however, the Defense Ministry separated the Jewish community in Hevron from the municipality, freeing it to act independently of the city, and to rely on the nearby town of Kiryat Arba for infrastructure.

The PA’s Hevron Governorate blasted the decision, and called upon the international community to intervene to reverse the change.