Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday that he had unilaterally revoked a nearly three-decade-old agreement governing Palestinian administration of Hebron, stripping the Palestinian municipality of authority over key areas of the city — including the Cave of the Patriarchs, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Smotrich made the announcement while attending a ceremony marking the laying of a foundation stone for a new Israeli settlement near the city, describing the move as "a step of practical sovereignty" and a "historical correction."

Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian territory seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. The city has long been divided: roughly 40,000 Palestinians live in the Israeli-controlled H2 sector alongside only around 200 Israeli settler families. The Cave of the Patriarchs — known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque — sits within this sector and is venerated by Jews, Muslims and Christians as the burial site of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. The site is physically divided between a synagogue, under Israeli administration, and a mosque. Under the 1997 Hebron Protocol, negotiated during Benjamin Netanyahu's first term as prime minister, management of most of the complex was left in Palestinian hands, with planning and construction decisions in the Jewish quarter also requiring Palestinian municipal approval.

Smotrich's decision transfers those planning and administrative powers to Israeli authorities and the military. According to officials, the Palestinian municipality will no longer provide municipal services — including waste collection and building permits — for the Jewish quarter. Yonatan Mizrahi, co-director of Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, confirmed the change was formalised through a meeting of the Higher Planning Council. "What Smotrich did is he controls the Higher Planning Council, which set a meeting on Wednesday where they decided that these responsibilities in Hebron will go from the Palestinian municipality of Hebron to Israel," he said.

The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah and led by President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the move outright, warning of "serious consequences" and calling on the international community to intervene urgently and demand the decision be reversed. Abbas's office stated that the move "constitutes a violation of signed agreements with the Israeli side, as well as a breach of international law" and undermines efforts toward a two-state solution. The Hebron municipality also condemned the announcement, noting it came on the Islamic new year. Peace Now described the step as "dangerous and irresponsible," accusing Smotrich of attempting to "set the occupied West Bank on fire."

The decision marks a significant escalation in a broader pattern of eroding Palestinian administrative authority in the West Bank, where approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers now live among three million Palestinians. Critics argue that dismantling the Hebron Protocol — a foundational element of Oslo-era arrangements — removes one of the last functioning frameworks for shared governance at a deeply sensitive religious site, raising fears of renewed communal tensions in a city with a history of violent confrontation.