The Hebron Reconstruction Committee (a government body) said in a statement that "an Israeli court approved a decision to evacuate a building known as 'Al-Manjara' at the entrance to the Old City, and decided to confiscate it for the benefit of the occupation authorities."
The committee noted that this property "is located in one of the holiest and most ancient areas of Hebron, and its seizure constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and represents a consecration of the occupation's policies aimed at Judaizing the heart of the city and imposing complete control over the Old City."
The committee affirmed that this step is part of a series of arbitrary measures pursued by the occupation authorities against the Old City and its residents, with the aim of emptying it of its original inhabitants and obliterating its historical and national identity.
She added that the decision "opens the door to new settlement expansion," calling for "the broadest popular and official solidarity campaign to protect the Old City's properties and support the residents' steadfastness in the face of these unjust policies."
Building above historic shops
For his part, Badr al-Daour, an official in charge of the Old City Committee (civil) and owner of a shop near the targeted property, told Anadolu Agency, "The seized property is an upper floor built about 40 years ago above four historic shops dating back about 170 years."
Al-Daour explained that the total area of the property is approximately 400 square meters, and was previously used as a carpentry academy.
He pointed out that an Israeli army force, accompanied by technicians and engineers, arrived at the site on Sunday evening, conducted a thorough survey and photographing of the property, then locked it and left.
Judaization of Hebron
Palestinians say Israel is implementing a systematic policy of seizing their property in the occupied West Bank, particularly in Hebron, as part of settlement expansion plans.
According to a report by the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, approximately 900 settlers live in the heart of Hebron's Old City, surrounded by tens of thousands of Palestinians. More than 1,000 Israeli soldiers are deployed among them, tasked with ensuring "military separation and control systems."
Hebron is the second-largest city in the West Bank in terms of population, but it is the area most exposed to attacks by settlers and the Israeli army, particularly in the Old City and around the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Continuous escalation
These violations coincide with an ongoing Israeli escalation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have killed at least 1,001 Palestinians and injured nearly 7,000 others, according to Palestinian data.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, which has so far left nearly 200,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, amid a famine that is worsening by the day.