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میدل-ایست-آیIsrael arrests Hebron mayor as it 'considers independent tribal emirate'
Israel arrests Hebron mayor as it 'considers independent tribal emirate'
Crackdown intensifies in Hebron as Israel repeatedly pushes plan to sever city from Palestinian Authority
Tayseer Abu Sneineh, (centre), Mayor of the Palestinian city of Hebron, discusses locals' water shortage problems during a session at the city's municipality hall in the occupied West Bank on 24 August 2023 (AFP/Hazem Bader H)
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Israeli forces seized the Palestinian mayor of Hebron, Tayseer Abu Sneineh, during a raid on his home in the southern occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Hebron Municipal Council, Israeli troops vandalised the property, causing extensive damage.
"This brutal attack not only targets the mayor himself, but also the will of the people of Hebron and its elected institutions,” the council said.
“It constitutes a blatant assault on the democratic process and on our people's right to manage their affairs and serve their city with freedom and dignity.”
Abu Sneineh, a veteran figure in the Fatah movement, became mayor of Hebron in 2017 after winning local elections.
In 2022, he ran on a joint electoral list that included representatives from Fatah, Hamas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). As a result, Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas expelled him from the party.
Abu Sneineh was previously a member of a Fatah armed group involved in a 1980 operation that killed six Israeli settlers. He was arrested by Israeli forces, sentenced to life imprisonment, and later released in a prisoner exchange deal.
Following his detention on Tuesday, Israeli media began inciting against him. Eyal Gelman, a settler and head of the so-called Israeli Hebron Municipality, said Abu Sneineh's arrest signalled Israel’s intention to impose full control over the city.
Tribal emirate
The arrest came just days after Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to establish an independent “tribal emirate” in Hebron, separating it from Palestinian Authority control.
The move reportedly comes in response to several western countries signalling plans to recognise the State of Palestine.
Hisham Sharabati, an activist with the Hebron Defence Committee, said the arrest is part of a broader Israeli crackdown in the city.
He said this campaign has included raids on schools, the confiscation of geography textbooks, and bans on raising the Palestinian flag.
Israeli forces also raided the city centre to break up a protest demanding the return of the bodies of slain Palestinians, a protest Sharabati described as peaceful and modest.
“This is a clear targeting of Hebron,” he told Middle East Eye. “It’s a prelude to turning it into another Jerusalem, where the Palestinian flag is banned, and schoolbooks are seized to erase Palestinian identity.”
Hebron was divided in 1997 under the Hebron Protocol, part of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The agreement split the city into two zones: H1, under Palestinian administration, and H2, under Israeli military control.
While it was introduced as a security arrangement, critics say it unfairly favoured Israel, placing about one-third of the city, including the commercial centre, under full Israeli control.
The continued presence of Israeli settlers and soldiers in Hebron has restricted Palestinian movement, disrupted daily life, and harmed the local economy.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority retains only limited powers in the areas it controls.
Ramallah, occupied Palestine
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