Israel's Higher Planning Council has unilaterally assumed authority over construction, approving a new dormitory. The World Council of Churches condemns the expropriation of land adjacent to the Orthodox monastery of Saint Onuphrius in Silwan. Eight Arab and Muslim countries slam the burning of two mosques in the West Bank. Bedouin herding communities are also targeted.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – The latest news from the West Bank constitutes a veritable war bulletin highlighting new construction, land grab, mosque burning, and Bedouin, herding families targeted.

A week after Israel’s Higher Planning Council's decision to unilaterally assume building authority in Hebron, it approved on Wednesday the construction of a dormitory for settlers studying at the Shavei Hevron Yeshiva, this according to Peace Now.

The anti-occupation advocacy group reported that the project will see two floors added to a commercial building on Al-Shalalah Street, in the heart of Hebron's historic market district (the Kasbah).

Peace Now: annexation and apartheid

“The government is racing toward annexation and apartheid. Hebron is the most extreme example of the regime Israel imposes in the West Bank, under which Israeli Jews enjoy rights while Palestinians are denied them. It is a city where entire streets are closed to Palestinians so that settlers can move through them freely,” reads the statement by Peace Now.

“The decision to strip Palestinians of planning authority and to build a large new settlement compound in the heart of Hebron’s Kasbah is a microcosm of the annexation being implemented by the government – one that is condemning us to a future of conflict and bloodshed,” the statement goes on to say.

The construction permit concerns a building that settlers moved into in September 2025 after the government decided to assign it to the Shavei Hevron Yeshiva. The assignment effectively served as a form of "right of return" for the property lost in 1948.

The building, also known as Valero House, was owned by a Jewish family in the early 20th century. In 1948, it was transferred to the Jordanian authorities, who leased it for use by Palestinians in Hebron. After 1967, all Jewish property in Hebron was transferred to the Israeli administration, which leased it to Palestinians.

Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank after East Jerusalem, with some 250,000 residents and about a thousand Israeli settlers concentrated in the heart of the Old City.

Responsibility for planning and construction in Hebron was transferred to the Palestinian Authority and the municipality by the Hebron Protocol signed by Binyamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat in 1997.

Last week, Israel’s Higher Planning Council decided to assume responsibility for settler properties and a number of holy sites in the city. In doing so, it established the principle of ethnic separation, according to which planning for Israelis in Hebron will be carried out by the Israeli civil administration, while planning for Palestinians on the same streets will remain under the jurisdiction of the municipality.

WCC against the land grab

Meanwhile, more and more voices are slamming the Israeli authorities' decision on 15 June to seize property adjacent to the Orthodox monastery of Saint Onuphrius in Silwan, East Jerusalem, which the Patriarchate deems “unlawful and illegitimate”.

“The Patriarchate affirms that the land, Parcel 6 of Block 29985, registered in its name under official records, lies adjacent to the ancient Monastery of St. Onuphrius, and is of historical, archaeological, and religious value,” the Patriarchate says in a statement.

The reported seizure and enclosure of church-owned land “constitute a serious violation of church rights and raise profound concerns regarding respect for religious institutions, property rights, and the rule of law,” writes WCC General Secretary Rev Prof Dr Jerry Pillay.

Pillay reiterated the WCC's full solidarity with the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and reaffirmed the WCC's support for the protection of church properties, holy sites, and the historic Christian presence in Jerusalem and throughout the Holy Land. 

Attacks on property and assets don't just affect Christians. Jewish settlers set fire to two mosques in the West Bank, eliciting a harsh statement from the foreign ministries of Muslim-majority countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan) strongly condemning the attacks on the Grand Mosque in the village of Jiljiliya and the Al-Farouq Mosque in Mazari Al-Nubani, a village north of Ramallah, after defacing the Great Mosque of Jiljiliya with Hebrew graffiti.

These latest incidents further confirm the escalation of violence by Jewish settlers and fundamentalists in the Occupied Territories since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, with the complicity of the Israeli government.

Targeting Bedouins and herders

The long list of violations and abuses also includes Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities, whose lands are increasingly being expropriated by unilateral actions by settlers.

According to the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), Israeli settlement expansion and military restrictions have led to the forced displacement of 50 communities since the end of 2023.

The information, reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, is found in a special survey of Bedouin herding communities in the West Bank conducted by ICHR in collaboration with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

At least 300 violations against individuals and institutions in these communities were recorded in April 2025 alone.

Instead, ICHR Director-General Ammar Dweik called for a national plan for these communities based on a comprehensive development and human rights approach, stressing the need for greater investment, legal protection, support on the ground, and access to essential services.

(Photo Courtesy: Peace Now)

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