This is the first application of Tel Aviv’s declaration on Tuesday to strip the Palestinian municipality of Hebron of its powers regarding construction and planning, in violation of the 1997 Hebron Protocol.
The Hebrew Channel 7 (private) said: “The Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration today approved plans to build 576 new (settlement) units in Judea and Samaria (the biblical name for the West Bank), as part of the government’s policy to strengthen settlements.”
She added: "As part of the decisions, the establishment of a new building for the 'Shafi Hefron' religious school near (settlement) Beit Romano in Hebron was approved for the first time."
The building in question is approximately 1,000 square meters and was approved in an unprecedented move without the need for approval from the Hebron municipality, according to the channel.
She noted that this step came the day after the change in planning powers in the region, which was announced on Tuesday by Finance Minister and Defense Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
According to Smotrich's office, in a statement on Wednesday, this is "the first approval of its kind after the transfer of planning and building powers in the Hebron settlement complex and heritage sites to Israel, without the need for the approval of the Hebron municipality."
The United Nations considers the occupied West Bank to be occupied Palestinian territory, and any changes, including settlement construction, are "illegal" under international law.
At the same time, the Israeli committee approved a plan to build 456 settlement units in the settlement of Mitzpe Yericho near the Palestinian city of Jericho in the eastern occupied West Bank.
A plan to build 120 settlement units in the Karnei Shomron settlement in the northern West Bank was also approved, according to the channel.
"We are implementing de facto sovereignty through settlement," Smotrich said in the statement.
Palestinians warn that Israel is intensifying its attacks, including settlement expansion, in preparation for officially annexing the West Bank, which would mean ending the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state as stipulated in UN resolutions.
In 1948, Israel was established on lands occupied by armed Zionist gangs who committed massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians. Tel Aviv then occupied the rest of the Palestinian territories and refuses to withdraw and allow the establishment of a Palestinian state.
On Tuesday, Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jabari expressed his rejection of stripping the municipality of its powers, stressing that "they cannot be bypassed or ignored under any circumstances."
He called on the United States to "assume its responsibilities as a sponsor of the agreements, and to work to exert pressure to maintain the status quo in Hebron, and to prevent any unilateral actions."
Under the Hebron Protocol, signed as part of the Oslo Accords, the city of Hebron was divided into a Palestinian section (H1) and another under Israeli security control (H2).
While Israel maintains security control over "H2", the Palestinian municipality of Hebron has retained some civil powers in the area, including granting planning and building permits and developing infrastructure.
The Israeli decision strips theHebron municipality of its powers regarding planning and construction, including the holy sites in the city, most notably the Ibrahimi Mosque, and transfers them to Tel Aviv, in violation of the 1997 protocol.
