Hebron at the Crossroads of Transformation: Cancellation of its Agreements and the Beginning of Redesigning Control in the Heart of the West Bank

In a political moment that seems like an open declaration of a new phase in managing the conflict within the West Bank, the Israeli occupation government's Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced what he called the "cancellation of the Hebron agreements." This step does not appear to be merely an administrative adjustment or a rearrangement of powers, but rather closer to a declaration of a comprehensive re-formulation of one of the most sensitive and complex cities in Palestinian geography, where politics intertwine with history, religion with control, and memory with field realities quietly written on the ground. Hebron, a city that does not stop at geographical boundaries but extends into the depths of history and conflict, returns today to the forefront as a new testing ground for equations of control and the redesign of reality, where politics intersect with religion, and history with the present, in one highly sensitive space. To understand the significance of Smotrich's announcement, one must go back to the background in which the so-called "Hebron Agreements" were formed, which came in the context of post-Oslo arrangements, specifically after the redeployment of occupation forces within the city in the mid-1990s. At that time, Hebron was divided into areas subject to limited Palestinian civil administration, and others under direct Israeli security control, especially in the "H2" area, which includes the heart of the Old City and the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque. These arrangements, despite their fragility from the beginning, formed a kind of "intersection management" between two authorities: a Palestinian municipal authority with civil tasks, and an Israeli military authority holding security and field decisions. But what is being announced today, according to Israeli statements, does not seem to be merely an adjustment within this framework, but a gradual dismantling of it, by withdrawing the remaining civil powers, and re-concentrating decision-making directly in the hands of the Israeli administration.

According to the announcement, the step includes withdrawing powers from the Hebron municipality in core files, most notably urban planning, construction, and infrastructure management in large areas of the city, reorganizing powers around the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque, and reducing the municipality's role to limited and semi-formal service functions; meaning that we are facing a transition from a model of "restricted Palestinian administration" to a model of "expanded direct Israeli administration," which practically means redefining the relationship between Palestinian residents and their local institutions within the city. This transformation, if actually implemented on the ground, does not only affect the administrative structure but also the essence of daily life: from construction, to planning, to urban movement, all the way to the future of the residential presence in the heart of the city. Hebron cannot be treated as an ordinary city within the geography of the West Bank. It is a city where historical and religious layers intertwine exceptionally, and it constitutes one of the most sensitive friction points in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At its heart lies the Ibrahimi Mosque, which bears a name and a religious narrative in Islam as a sacred mosque, and conversely is referred to in the Jewish narrative as the "Cave of Machpelah" or "Tomb of the Patriarchs." This religious overlap has not remained within the framework of spiritual symbolism but has evolved over decades into a central element in the conflict over the place, where the management of the site itself has become part of the equation of political and field control. And here specifically, any change in the powers related to the urban surroundings of the Ibrahimi Mosque becomes more than just an administrative measure, but a step that affects one of the most sensitive religious symbols in the region. What distinguishes the situation in Hebron is that religion does not stand on the margins of politics but directly intertwines with it, and sometimes is used as a tool in shaping realities. In the political discourse of some Israeli currents, biblical narratives related to the city of Hebron are invoked as the "City of the Patriarchs," a discourse that finds its extension in field policies that push for the expansion of settler presence in the heart of the Old City and its surroundings. In contrast, the Ibrahimi Mosque in Islamic consciousness forms part of a deeply rooted religious narrative, linked to the history of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), and what it represents as a unifying symbol in Islam. This overlap between religious text and political instrumentalization creates a state of "politicization of the sacred," where religious narratives become part of the tools of conflict on the ground, instead of remaining within their spiritual or faith framework. But the most dangerous aspect in this context is not the difference in narratives, but the use of this difference to justify field changes on the ground, gradually but profoundly reshaping the city. Withdrawing powers from the Hebron municipality does not only mean changing the authority responsible for issuing permits or regulating construction, but practically means redefining who holds the decision-making power in the urban space of the city. When planning and construction powers are transferred to the occupation authority, this opens the door for accelerating settlement expansion projects within and around the city, redrawing the demographic map by controlling urban growth, imposing additional restrictions on natural Palestinian expansion, and reshaping sensitive areas to serve new field realities. These are not just theoretical possibilities, but recurring patterns witnessed in other areas of the West Bank, where the gradual transfer of powers leads to a change in the structure of the place in the medium and long term. What is happening in Hebron cannot be read in isolation from the general context in the West Bank, where the pace of reshaping field reality is accelerating through multiple tools including rapid settlement expansion, redefining areas of control, reducing the role of Palestinian institutions, and strengthening direct administration in sensitive areas. In this context, Hebron appears as a central link in a broader project, aimed at establishing new realities on the ground, making a return to any future settlement more complicated. The city, with its population size and geographical location, represents a center of gravity in the Palestinian south, and any change in its administrative structure automatically reflects on its surroundings.

On a practical level, the repercussions of the decision can be read at several intertwined levels. At the urban level, direct control over planning will lead to a reshaping of the urban structure to serve specific expansion projects. At the population level, this may be reflected in additional restrictions on construction, creating gradual demographic pressure within the city. At the level of the Ibrahimi Mosque, any change in the management of its surroundings opens the door for a reformulation of the existing balance, which has been in place for years, and which is inherently fragile, based on precise equations between the religious and political presences in the place. From a broader political perspective, the decision does not seem isolated from trends within the current Israeli government, where more extreme visions are advancing regarding the West Bank file, based on reducing the Palestinian institutional presence, in exchange for expanding direct Israeli control. In this context, the announcement of the "cancellation of the Hebron agreements" becomes part of a political discourse that views previous agreements as a phase to be overcome, not a framework to be developed, thereby reproducing the concept of control in a more direct and less ambiguous form. At the end of this scene, Hebron does not appear to be merely a city managed by successive decisions, but a stage being rewritten anew, line by line, and power by power, until its features change very quietly, resembling the silent redrawing of maps, but leaving its deep impact on every house, alley, and stone. And between what is said in political discourse and what is implemented on the ground, the clearest truth remains that the city is being pushed towards a completely different phase, where old understandings are replaced by the logic of direct control, and the distances between decision and reality are shortened, to the extent that the place itself becomes the most eloquent and harsh statement.

Quoted from Arabi21 website