HEBRON, West Bank: Palestinians in Hebron accused Israel on Tuesday of trying to rid the flashpoint city of witnesses to its actions in the occupied West Bank by ejecting a foreign observer force that helps safeguard residents.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he will not renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), accusing the observers of unspecified anti-Israel activity.
Norway, which has headed the multi-country observer mission for the past 22 years, said “the one-sided Israeli decision can mean that the implementation of an important part of the Oslo accords is discontinued.”
“The situation in Hebron is unstable and characterised by conflict,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement to Reuters, adding that the end of the observer mission was therefore “worrying.”
Hebron, a Palestinian city of 200,000 people, is home to a community of around 1,000 Israeli settlers who are heavily guarded by a large Israeli military presence.
The TIPH was set up after a Jewish settler killed 29 Palestinians at a Hebron shrine holy to both Muslims and Jews in 1994. The city has also seen stabbing and shooting attacks against settlers and Israeli soldiers by Palestinians.
Since Israel partially withdrew from Hebron in 1998 under interim peace deals with the self-rule Palestinian Authority, the TIPH has monitored “breaches of the agreements (and) violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” the force’s website says.
“The settlers’ attacks will increase,” said Aref Jaber, a Palestinian resident of Hebron. TIPH’s presence was particularly helpful to schoolchildren, he added, because they patrol the city “in the morning and the afternoon, when they go to and return from school.”
The United Nations said it regretted Israel’s decision.
“While the TIPH is not a United Nations body its role in contributing positively to defusing tensions in such a sensitive area has been widely recognized,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
TIPH draws staff from Norway, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. The TIPH website says it has 64 international staff in the city. An Israeli official said its mandate ends on Jan. 31.
” is our window to the world. They can show the Israeli occupation’s ugly face – which is definitely annoying to the Israelis,” said Bader Daour, a ceramics merchant in Hebron’s old city.
Settler leaders welcomed news of the force’s upcoming departure. They have accused the TIPH of harassing settlers and agitating against them.
Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community, said the TIPH observers “created an atmosphere of conflict, not a congenial atmosphere of peace.”
Jews and Palestinians, he said, have inhabited the city for centuries: “We know each other and I’m sure we’ll find a way to get along without Norwegian help,” Fleisher said.
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said in November that the TIPH were pro-Palestinian, “ignore Palestinian terrorism and harm IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers by documenting their daily security activity.”
Peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in 2014. Most world powers consider Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war, to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing biblical, historical and political ties to the land.
“(The Israelis) don’t want there to be witnesses to their crimes, or any other crime they commit against the Palestinians anywhere, and especially in Hebron,” said the city’s mayor of Tayseer Abu Sinaneh.
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Palestinians say Israel removing witnesses by ejecting Hebron monitors
Palestinians say Israel removing witnesses by ejecting Hebron monitors
- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH)
- The TIPH was set up after a Jewish settler killed 29 Palestinians at a Hebron shrine holy to both Muslims and Jews in 1994
Syrian army deploys in Deir Ezzor province after Kurdish withdrawal
- Syria’s army on Monday deployed its forces in parts of the eastern Deir Ezzor province formerly controlled by Kurdish forces following their withdrawal from the area
DEIR EZZOR: Syria’s army on Monday deployed its forces in parts of the eastern Deir Ezzor province formerly controlled by Kurdish forces following their withdrawal from the area.
After two days of rapid gains in Kurdish-controlled territory, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced on Sunday a deal with their leader Mazloum Abdi that includes a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurdish administration and forces into the central state.
The government push captured Arab-majority areas that came under Kurdish control during the fight against the Daesh group.
In Deir Ezzor, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of military vehicles heading to the east of the Euphrates river, which once separated Damascus-controlled areas to the west from the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to the east.
Lines of cars, trucks and motorcycles formed in front of a small bridge leading to the eastern bank.
Some people were also heading there on foot.
“Our joy over liberation is indescribable,” Mohammed Khalil, a 50-year-old driver in Deir Ezzor, told AFP.
“We hope things will be better than before. There was... no freedom under the SDF.”
Safia Keddo, a 49-year-old teacher, told AFP “the past few years, but today we must turn the page.”
“We want children to return to school without fear, and for electricity, water, and bread to be restored. We’re not asking for a miracle; we just want stability and a normal life.”
The Syrian army said in a statement that it “started the deployment” into the eastern Jazira region “to secure it under the agreement between the Syrian state and the SDF.”
The agreement calls for the immediate handover of the provinces of the Arab-majority Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces.
The SDF had announced on Sunday that it was withdrawing from areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields.
Local fighters from tribes in the Arab-majority province sided with Damascus and took control of these areas before the arrival of government forces.
Some Arab tribes were previously allied with the SDF, which included a significant Arab component in its ranks.
The SDF had taken control of part of Deir Ezzor after defeating the Daesh group with the support of an international coalition led by the United States.
After two days of rapid gains in Kurdish-controlled territory, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced on Sunday a deal with their leader Mazloum Abdi that includes a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurdish administration and forces into the central state.
The government push captured Arab-majority areas that came under Kurdish control during the fight against the Daesh group.
In Deir Ezzor, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of military vehicles heading to the east of the Euphrates river, which once separated Damascus-controlled areas to the west from the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to the east.
Lines of cars, trucks and motorcycles formed in front of a small bridge leading to the eastern bank.
Some people were also heading there on foot.
“Our joy over liberation is indescribable,” Mohammed Khalil, a 50-year-old driver in Deir Ezzor, told AFP.
“We hope things will be better than before. There was... no freedom under the SDF.”
Safia Keddo, a 49-year-old teacher, told AFP “the past few years, but today we must turn the page.”
“We want children to return to school without fear, and for electricity, water, and bread to be restored. We’re not asking for a miracle; we just want stability and a normal life.”
The Syrian army said in a statement that it “started the deployment” into the eastern Jazira region “to secure it under the agreement between the Syrian state and the SDF.”
The agreement calls for the immediate handover of the provinces of the Arab-majority Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces.
The SDF had announced on Sunday that it was withdrawing from areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields.
Local fighters from tribes in the Arab-majority province sided with Damascus and took control of these areas before the arrival of government forces.
Some Arab tribes were previously allied with the SDF, which included a significant Arab component in its ranks.
The SDF had taken control of part of Deir Ezzor after defeating the Daesh group with the support of an international coalition led by the United States.
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