Doha, June 17 (QNA) - In a flagrant official renege on the agreements that had hitherto been sanctioned under international sponsorship and supervision- an arrangement now effectively subject to repudiation by the Israeli side-Israel annulled the Hebron Agreement of 1997 concerning what had been a strongpoint in the broader Oslo framework, namely the city of Hebron and the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque.

Intriguingly, this move was declared unilaterally on Tuesday by far-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who asserted that Israel had written off Palestinian Authority powers over planning and construction in Hebron, thereby setting the project in motion to transfer these powers to Israeli control.

He attempted to frame the cancellation as a "sanction" against what he labelled one of the most "absurd" provisions of Oslo, while portraying the shift as a form of administrative "omnipotence" exercised by the state.

He further added that the decision had been presented earlier to the Israeli cabinet's political and security forum, and that it had received the go-ahead in a process that was scrupulously advanced through the Higher Planning Council.

He positioned the measure as part of a broader, thought-out government strategy aimed at strengthening settlement expansion and entrenching Israeli administrative control in the West Bank, a territory which Palestinians view as central to their aspirations for statehood.

The agreement itself- formally known as the Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron and often referred to elliptically as the Hebron Protocol-was signed in 1997 between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his first term and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, as a supplementary instrument to Oslo II.

 It was designed as a counterweight mechanism to manage intractable conflicts in a highly sensitive urban environment where Israeli settlers and Palestinians live in proximity under deeply fissiparous conditions.

The agreement divided the city into H1 and H2 zones: H1, comprising around 80% of the city, was transferred to Palestinian civil and security control, while H2, about 20%, included the Old City, the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, and settlement outposts.

 In H2, Israel maintained a perimeter defense role focused on settler protection, while Palestinian civil authorities retained responsibilities over planning, construction, regulation, and licensing through the Hebron Municipality- an arrangement that, critics argue, was always maintained in a maintained dug-in position of instability.

The practical annulment of these provisions represents what analysts describe as a further dissidence from the Oslo framework, amounting to a blanket condemnation of its remaining legal architecture.

 It opens the door to renewed escalation and legal confrontation over the governance of Hebron's Old City, while also reflecting a broader stratagem pursued by the Israeli far right: the gradual normalization and legalization of settlement outposts, the assertion of unalterable sovereignty over the West Bank, and the systematic weakening of Palestinian institutional capacity.

According to Palestinian analysts, this development unfolds amid ongoing humanitarian catastrophes in Gaza and continued policies in Jerusalem and across the West Bank.

They argue that the move grants Israeli occupation forces expanded authority over demolition and urban planning in Hebron, effectively discomfiting Palestinian administrative capacity and stripping it of leeway to implement infrastructure projects.

 In their view, this represents yet another step in a broader, implacable trajectory aimed at needling the Palestinian political entity, where successive measures have been taken in lockstep with an overarching objective: the erosion of any viable horizon for a two-state solution and the containment of what they describe as an already deeply intractable conflict.

Analysts suggest that the occupation authorities have been targeting Hebron since 1967, however, the new decision represents the zenith of the Israeli campaign to Judaize the city.

They noted that the annulment of the Hebron Agreement goes beyond an infringement upon Palestinian national assets and places the Netanyahu government in confrontation with the world and the principal sponsors of the peace agreements and understandings signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the occupation government.

Immediately, the Palestinian presidency condemned the Israeli move, labeling it as a "flagrant unilateral measure" that affects the legal and political status quo of the city and amounts to a clear violation of international legitimacy.

It called on the United States administration to intervene, decrying the undermining of the legal and historical standing of the city of Hebron and Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, affirming that what is taking place is a "grave escalation that demands accountability".

The ministry stressed that Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over any part of the city of Hebron, adding that Palestinian rights in the city are grounded in international resolutions and an extended historical presence, and calling on the international community, especially the United States, to urgently spring into action to halt these measures.

Hebron Municipality and the Committee for the Reconstruction of the Old City also pushed back on the Israeli government’s declaration of transferring authority over the Old City and the holy site to Israeli administration.

The mayor of Hebron, Eng. Yousef Zouhair Al Jabari, stated that the Israeli decision constitutes a serious infringement on the rights of the Palestinian people and their national institutions, and a renewed attempt to impose control over the historical heart of Hebron.

  The Hebron Protocol, signed under international sponsorship and with American participation, puts out a framework for regulating administrative life in the city, Al Jabari underlined.

Al Jabari stressed that any breach of these understandings represents a "serious overreach" that would have steep consequences, calling for urgent international intervention.

He affirmed that Hebron Municipality will continue to provide services across all areas of the city, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Old City, and both H1 and H2 zones.

The Israeli decisions to annul the Hebron Agreement are part of a broader campaign aimed at Judaizing the West Bank and creating a new reality on the ground that prevents the implementation of the two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Occupation authorities had previously transferred management authority over Al-Ibrahimi Mosque from Hebron Municipality to the Israeli side several months ago, while the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation mulled in May a bill submitted by Knesset members from the Otzma Yehudit party, which seeks to annul the Oslo Accords, the Hebron Agreement, and the Wye River Memorandum signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In February, the Israeli security cabinet approved a series of decisions aimed at fundamentally altering the legal and civil reality in the occupied West Bank in order to entrench Israeli occupation over it.

These decisions included the repeal of Jordanian law prohibiting the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, while the occupation government is preparing to take one of the largest steps in settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank in decades.

 This included an approval of a plan to finance the establishment of 61 new settlements, and the creation of temporary housing complexes, public buildings, infrastructure, road networks, and essential services for settlement schemes in the West Bank, as a prelude to their formal annexation to the occupying entity- effectively undermining the possibility of a Palestinian state as stipulated in UN resolutions.

To defuse global criticism, the Israeli Foreign Ministry quickly issued a statement denying the complete annulment of the Hebron Agreement, claiming that the change was limited to the withdrawal of planning and construction powers in sites of heritage and Jewish presence only, allegedly due to lack of cooperation from the Palestinian Hebron Municipality. (QNA)