'Israel' seizes Hebron’s historic core over last two years

• 'Israel' accelerates steps to strip Palestinian authority in Hebron’s H2 zone, targeting the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings.
• Settlement councils replace Palestinian institutions as control shifts through administrative orders and on-the-ground measures.

‘Israel’ is racing to consolidate control over the historic heart of Hebron, focusing on the Ibrahimi Mosque and nearby areas classified as "H2" under the 1997 Hebron Protocol.

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The campaign centers on stripping Palestinian institutions of their legal and administrative powers in zones where, under the agreement, Palestinians retain full civilian and service authority despite ‘Israeli’ security control.

Undermining the Hebron Protocol

The Hebron Protocol divided the city into "H1" and "H2". Areas classified as "H1" fall under Palestinian control. "H2" areas remain under ‘Israeli’ security control but Palestinian civil authority, including municipal services, infrastructure, water, electricity, and technical supervision of the Ibrahimi Mosque.

In practice, ‘Israeli’ authorities have spent months dismantling this arrangement. Powers once held by Hebron Municipality and the Islamic Waqf have been transferred to the Hebron Settlements Council, effectively replacing Palestinian institutions.

These measures target so-called “closed zones”, including Tel Rumeida, Shuhada Street, Sahla Street, Wadi al-Hussein, Wadi al-Ghrous, Jabir neighborhood, Salaymeh neighborhood, and the perimeter of the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Demographic pressure and settlement expansion

Roughly 35,000 Palestinians live in "H2", which covers about 20 percent of Hebron. The same areas contain five settlement outposts housing hundreds of extremist settlers.

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Settlers, working alongside the Hebron Settlements Council, Kiryat Arba settlement council, and the Civil Administration, have moved to erode Palestinian authority and impose Judaization measures around the mosque.

2024: Settlers expand control

Following the assault on Gaza in late 2023, 'Israeli' forces tightened movement restrictions in closed zones, erecting more than 110 checkpoints and obstacles and limiting residents’ entry and exit times.

During this period, the settlements council announced plans to install Hebrew signage across Palestinian neighborhoods to alter the city’s historic character.

In early 2024, 'Israeli' authorities altered features of the Ibrahimi Mosque by installing air-conditioning units in the Yousufiya area, removing historic chandeliers, and dismantling centuries-old windows. While framed as technical work, these actions fall under the municipality’s mandate and were widely viewed as steps toward Judaization and authority seizure.

During Ramadan, authorities escalated restrictions by preventing Waqf staff from bringing water cups and dates for worshippers during evening prayers.

In June 2024, Hebron Municipality received notices declaring 'Israel's' plans to build over municipal properties in the old city’s Hasba area, with warnings that municipal rights would be nullified.

On July 11, 2024, attempts were made to roof the mosque courtyard area known as al-Yaqubiya before being temporarily halted. That same month, municipal workers were barred from entering closed zones to collect waste. Settlement council crews replaced them and installed their own garbage containers.

In August 2024, 'Israel' blocked the entry of water tankers supplying residents, particularly along Shuhada Street, effectively enforcing a policy of collective dehydration.

On October 4, 2024, the Ibrahimi Mosque was closed during Friday prayers, and custodians were barred from entry without justification.

In November 2024, excavation works were carried out in the municipal park east of the mosque near the electricity room supplying the site, aiming to increase power loads for the section seized by settlers. The year ended with road paving projects carried out by occupation authorities across several closed-zone neighborhoods.

2025: Targeting the Ibrahimi Mosque

At the start of 2025, 'Israeli' authorities refused to hand over the Ibrahimi Mosque to the Islamic Waqf during Islamic religious occasions. For the first time, they withheld the Jawliya Prayer Hall, signaling undisclosed plans for the site.

Authorities then seized the eastern Saraya building belonging to the mosque, previously leased to the Red Crescent.

In April 2025, locks were installed on doors leading to religious shrines and internal rooms, including the incense chamber, call-to-prayer room, and custodians’ quarters. Waqf keys were confiscated, and mosque director Moataz Abu Sunaina and two custodians were summoned and banned from the site for two weeks.

In June 2025, the mosque was closed for 12 days during the ‘Israeli’-Iranian escalation. Upon reopening, staff found fire alarm systems installed by 'Israel', while Waqf-led fire safety projects were obstructed and Palestinian regulations replaced with ‘Israeli’ ones.

In July 2025, 'Israel' Hayom reported a decision to change the status quo by transferring supervisory authority from Hebron Municipality and the Islamic Waqf to the Jewish Religious Council in Kiryat Arba.

Attempts to seize control continued. In September 2025, authorities moved to expropriate and control the 288-square-meter roof of the mosque’s inner courtyard. In November, 'Israeli' far-right Knesset member Tzvi Sukkot announced that ‘Israel’ had taken control of the mosque’s technical administration, referred to by settlers as the Cave of the Patriarchs.

That same month, 'Israeli' authorities unveiled a plan to demolish the historic Hasba market and build 63 settlement units and a synagogue on a 12,500-square-meter site. Mobile settlement caravans were also installed near the Sunniyya Mosque.

By the end of 2025, 'Israel' issued a decisive order stripping Hebron Municipality of planning and construction powers related to the mosque courtyard roof, transferring them to a Civil Administration planning committee under the 'Israeli' army.

The cumulative measures point to a systematic effort to assert full ‘Israeli’ control over Hebron’s historic core and the Ibrahimi Mosque, dismantling long-standing agreements and accelerating the displacement and marginalization of the city’s Palestinian residents.