Israel approves settler building plans in Palestinian West Bank city

Israel has approved the expansion of a Jewish school in Hebron's occupied West Bank, defying a decades-old agreement and sparking Palestinian concerns over construction in the historic city.

​Israel on Wednesday approved the expansion of ​a Jewish school for settlers ‌living in the ​centre of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, in a construction push that Palestinians say violates a decades-old ‌agreement.

Israel's finance minister announced the plans a day after saying he had scrapped a deal that gave the Palestinian municipality control over certain planning and construction around Hebron's historic core, home to a flashpoint holy ‌shrine. The enclave around the Cave of the Patriarchs - revered by Muslims, Jews and Christians - is ‌home to more than 1,000 Jewish settlers who live among tens of thousands of Palestinians under complete Israeli security control.

Under the 1997 Hebron Agreement, Israeli troops remain deployed in the area but construction has generally required approval from the Palestinian ⁠municipality, ​including around the shrine. The religious ⁠heritage of the city has made it a focal point for Israeli settlers, who are determined to expand the ⁠Jewish presence.

Bezalal Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister, said construction of a 1,000 square metre building for a Jewish school in ​Hebron's historic core had been approved. "We are continuing to build the Land of Israel ⁠in practice and to implement practical sovereignty in the settlements," Smotrich, who has said he wants to bury the idea ⁠of ​Palestinian statehood, said in a statement.

Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist who lives in Hebron, said he feared Israel's dismantling of parts of the Hebron Agreement would leave Palestinian residents of the ⁠city without basic services. He said that move was aimed at making life miserable for Palestinians and forcing them ⁠to leave.

"It means ⁠ethnic cleansing of Palestinian families from their homes, and more displacement," he said, describing Israel's actions as stealing Palestinian dreams to have a state "and to ‌live without ‌violence, without fear, with peace". (Writing by Alexander Cornwell; ​Editing by Rami Ayyub)