عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

‘Emirate of Hebron’ Raised Again According to Smotrich’s Arrangements

The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
TT
TT

‘Emirate of Hebron’ Raised Again According to Smotrich’s Arrangements

The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

The establishment of the “Emirate of Hebron” has been raised again after far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday that he had annulled the Hebron Accords and seized planning and construction powers at a Jewish and Muslim shrine in the occupied West Bank from Palestinian authorities.

The idea of “annulment” was already put forward more than a year ago but rejected by Palestinians.

The 1997 agreement gave the Palestinian Hebron municipality authority to construct and plan in the H2 area of the city, despite it being under Israeli military control.

And in what appears to be a coordinated plan, while Smotrich annulled the Hebron Accords, Likud Minister Nir Barkat brought five Hebron residents to a Knesset hearing to promote a government-backed plan to secede from the Palestinian Authority, establish an independent emirate and join regional normalization agreements.

“The dispute came to a head during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hearing this week, when Barkat brought five Hebron residents promoting the initiative,” Haaretz newspaper wrote on Friday.

“The group argued they could assume responsibility for their local areas and maintain order through a model of tribal leadership,” it added.

The newspaper explained that last year, five residents of Hebron had proposed breaking away from the Palestinian Authority in an initiative for an “Emirate of Hebron.”

According to a 2025 report in The Wall Street Journal, the group sent a letter to Barkat in which they expressed support for Israel as a Jewish state and proposed the creation of a joint Israeli-West Bank industrial zone near the separation barrier.

Haaretz said Barkat presented the five Hebron residents as those who are willing to accept responsibility for the areas where their extended families live, break away from the Palestinian Authority, and establish a system of local tribal leadership.

During the discussion, the sheikhs claimed that they had the power to restore order and protect their residents.

The five sheikhs, the newspaper wrote, presented far-reaching demands to the Israeli army and security forces during the discussion. They demanded that soldiers refrain from activities against them and their people, reduce arrests, and stop searching for weapons on their families' lands.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli also attended the discussion, expressing full support for the initiative. According to Chikli, the emirate model is “the future of the West Bank” and the most significant alternative offered to the Palestinian Authority so far.

Chikli argued that the local tribal structure may constitute a more stable basis for a Palestinian government than the PA's institutions, which the Israeli government seeks to dismantle.

The 1997 Hebron Agreement divided the city of Hebron into two zones: H1, under Palestinian control and H2, under Israeli security control.

Palestinians controlled planning and construction in the entire city, including the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the adjoining Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque.

Hebron's Old City is recognized as a Palestinian World Heritage site.

Hundreds of Jewish settlers live among tens of thousands of Palestinians in parts of the ancient city that are under Israeli security control.

Annulling the Hebron Accords means Israelis would again control the H2 area of the city, including religious affairs.

Smotrich said: “This is much more than a planning step, it is a step... of practical sovereignty, of governance.”

The Palestinian mayor of Hebron, Yousef Al-Jabari, called Smotrich's announcement a “racist decision aimed at stripping the Hebron municipality of its powers.”

He told Israel’s i24NEWS channel that the Palestinian people remain entirely capable of choosing their own leadership, despite active Israeli interference.

“We have a municipality that democratically elects its president and members. Hebron is ruled by Palestinian legitimacy and no one else will rule it,” he added.

On Friday, Haaretz said the Israeli military has rejected these estimates outright. Security sources who spoke to Haaretz said most of the figures presented as influential lack public status in Hebron, and are not recognized as the city's power centers.

Other sources warned that the very fact of holding the Knesset debate and granting official legitimacy to a model of tribal leadership supported by Israel could create the impression that Israel is trying to dismantle the existing Palestinian leadership by appointing cronies from collaborating clans.

Such a move, they warn, could actually strengthen support for extremist factions and deepen instability in the West Bank.

“When ministers bring the sheikhs to the Knesset, give them an official platform and present them as a governmental alternative to the Palestinian Authority, it can no longer be treated as just a public relations exercise – it has direct consequences on the ground,” said a security source who spoke to Haaretz.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

New US Sanctions Tighten Grip on Hezbollah, Test Lebanon

17 April 2026, Lebanon, Jiyyeh: A displaced Lebanese woman flashes the victory sign and displays Hezbollah and Iranian flags as they drive along the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon in the Jiyyeh area. (dpa)
17 April 2026, Lebanon, Jiyyeh: A displaced Lebanese woman flashes the victory sign and displays Hezbollah and Iranian flags as they drive along the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon in the Jiyyeh area. (dpa)
TT
TT

New US Sanctions Tighten Grip on Hezbollah, Test Lebanon

17 April 2026, Lebanon, Jiyyeh: A displaced Lebanese woman flashes the victory sign and displays Hezbollah and Iranian flags as they drive along the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon in the Jiyyeh area. (dpa)
17 April 2026, Lebanon, Jiyyeh: A displaced Lebanese woman flashes the victory sign and displays Hezbollah and Iranian flags as they drive along the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon in the Jiyyeh area. (dpa)

New US sanctions on Hezbollah go beyond targeting money-transfer networks, signaling a broader shift in Washington’s approach to the group and its relationship with the Lebanese state.

By relisting Hezbollah on its sanctions list and targeting a network accused of moving millions of dollars to the group, Washington is stepping up pressure on Hezbollah while putting Lebanese institutions to a sensitive test: whether they can tighten oversight of money flows and transfers and meet their obligations without worsening the country’s internal crisis.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on 10 people “that are part of a network responsible for transferring cash to Hezbollah.”

“The network utilizes couriers travelling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Türkiye, the UAE, and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars between jurisdictions, providing an avenue outside the formal financial system for Hezbollah to obtain foreign currency and evade sanctions,” it said.

OFAC also re-designated Hezbollah “for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF).”

Lebanese institutions under scrutiny

The US move is unlikely to stop with the targeted individuals and entities. It puts Lebanese banks, financial institutions, and regulatory bodies under closer US scrutiny, testing their ability to detect financial activity that could be linked to Hezbollah, its institutions, or its networks.

An official Lebanese source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the sanctions “pose challenges for the Lebanese state and its security, judicial and financial institutions.”

The source said the “tough US measures require tighter oversight of any assets linked to Hezbollah and its institutions, because any delay in doing so could leave the state facing consequences it can ill afford.”

OFAC said that “Hezbollah and its allies exploit financing schemes including oil smuggling, illicit shipping, commodities sales, and bulk cash smuggling to generate and move funds across the region.”

The US Treasury linked the targeted network to Behnam Shahriyari, a former Quds Force finance official, saying it was “one example of the methods used to funnel support to terrorist proxy groups throughout the region.”

Beyond Lebanese framework

But the strongest message in the sanctions, according to one Lebanese political reading, is directed at Lebanon itself.

Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said the latest measures differ from previous sanctions because Washington is “dealing with Hezbollah under a new classification that places it outside the traditional Lebanese framework and presents it as an Iranian faction and part of the broader US confrontation with Iran.”

Nader told Asharq Al-Awsat that the shift “will have repercussions inside Lebanon and for the authorities and official institutions, particularly in light of the political and even financial relationship linking the group to some Lebanese factions.”

Under the new US approach, he said, Hezbollah “is no longer viewed as a representative of the Shiite community, but as an Iranian faction occupying Lebanon.”

He said the implications could extend well beyond financial sanctions.

“Any party dealing with Hezbollah could be viewed by the United States as being involved in dealings with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards,” Nader said, adding that this could trigger “political and legal repercussions that go beyond direct financial sanctions.”

The effects of the new approach also extend into the political and diplomatic sphere, particularly Lebanese-Israeli negotiations.

Nader said tougher sanctions “could give Washington greater room to manage negotiations with Israel, allowing it to pressure Hezbollah” and “keeping the issue of ending Hezbollah’s influence part of the broader US confrontation with Iran.”

Europe’s response in focus

Attention is also turning to Europe and whether it will follow Washington’s lead.

Nader pointed to what he called “the recent hardening of the French and British positions toward Iran.”

“If the US approach extends to Europe, Lebanon could find itself entering a more complicated phase,” he said.

In that case, compliance with international sanctions would become “not merely a political choice, but an additional test of the state’s ability to protect its financial system and institutions from the repercussions of a regional and international conflict that extends beyond its borders,” he explained.

Hezbollah rejects US designation

Hezbollah rejected the US position, saying the claim that it is under the control of the Quds Force was merely a pretext for relisting it under sanctions.

The party described the move as “part of the continued policies of US administrations to target the resistance, its community, its support base and to besiege them and exert political, financial and security pressure on them.”

Hezbollah said Washington “continues to deal with Lebanon from a position of tutelage.”

It accused the US of choosing, instead of pressuring Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon and halt its attacks, to “besiege the Lebanese and work to strip Lebanon of all sources of strength.”

On its relationship with Iran, Hezbollah said: “Our close and brotherly relationship with Iran is one we cherish and take pride in.”

But it stressed that it “does not await anyone’s certification of its Lebanese identity or patriotism.”

The party said sanctions and designations “will not deter us from adhering to the option of resistance and to the right of Lebanon and the Lebanese people to defend their land, sovereignty, and resources.”

Arab World

Rights Group Says Israeli Settler Violence Heads to Established Palestinian Cities

Israeli flags raised by settlers as seen on a main road to Jenin City, 21 August 2026. (EPA)
Israeli flags raised by settlers as seen on a main road to Jenin City, 21 August 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Rights Group Says Israeli Settler Violence Heads to Established Palestinian Cities

Israeli flags raised by settlers as seen on a main road to Jenin City, 21 August 2026. (EPA)
Israeli flags raised by settlers as seen on a main road to Jenin City, 21 August 2026. (EPA)

An Israeli group that collects information about potential human rights violations against Palestinians says reported incidents of Israeli settler violence have moved from the rural West Bank toward larger, more populated Palestinian cities and towns.

The establishment of new settlements and outposts throughout the West Bank has emboldened extremist settlers, who are now encroaching on larger communities that previously were far from the front lines of settler violence, Yesh Din said in its report released Friday titled “The Next Frontier.”

The uptick in violence corresponds with the Israeli government’s approval of new settlements and the expansion of outposts that it doesn’t authorize but often leaves in place, according to the report.

“As outposts advance deeper into Palestinian territory, violence, harassment and terror follow,” Yesh Din wrote.

Some 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank alongside roughly 560,000 Israeli settlers.

Arab World

Palestinian Teen Killed by Israeli Settlers After Rock Throwing Incident

Relatives of killed Palestinian Karim Shalaldeh, 17, cry after his body was transferred to a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP)
Relatives of killed Palestinian Karim Shalaldeh, 17, cry after his body was transferred to a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Palestinian Teen Killed by Israeli Settlers After Rock Throwing Incident

Relatives of killed Palestinian Karim Shalaldeh, 17, cry after his body was transferred to a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP)
Relatives of killed Palestinian Karim Shalaldeh, 17, cry after his body was transferred to a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP)

A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed and another man wounded by Israeli settler gunfire after rocks were thrown Friday in Sa’ir, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The ministry identified the teenager as Karim Sanad Raja Shalaldeh.

The teenager’s father told The Associated Press at the hospital that Israeli settlers had killed his son.

The Israeli military said soldiers were dispatched to Sa’ir after Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli civilians who were in the area without prior authorization. Some Israelis were injured and a security official opened fire.

Separately, the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs informed the Health Ministry that 58-year-old Fathi Khazem was fatally shot by Israeli forces early Friday in Jenin.

An Israeli army official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules said Khazem attempted to stab an Israeli soldier during an overnight operation. No Israeli soldiers were injured.

The Israeli official said Khazem was the father of Raed Khazem, who carried out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv in April 2022.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed in almost 1,500 attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to Palestinian officials.