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Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced on Thursday his intentions to construct a new building in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron where abandoned Palestinian market stalls are currently situated.
“We will continue to strengthen the Hebron community with deeds,” Liberman said, after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved the newly announced construction project in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood that had been delayed for many years due to legal difficulties.
The plan will reportedly include the preservation of the ground floor market stores with residential apartments built above. According to The Jerusalem Post, the land was owned by members of the former Jewish community in Hebron, that was destroyed in 1929 when Arab rioters killed 67 Jews. Subsequently, the stalls had been reportedly been rented to Palestinian shop owners
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called the announcement “a gift to the Jewish people and the Jewish community in Hebron.”
Last month Liberman said the cabinet approved a $6 million expansion project in Hebron which will include 31 new homes; the first expansion of settlements in the West Bank city in almost sixteen years.
The project is said to be in line with the government’s policy to “develop the Jewish community in the city.”
Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major obstacles to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.
Israel however differentiates between settlements it has formally approved and those it has not. Those without approval are referred to as outposts and are typically populated by hardline religious nationalists who see the entire West Bank as part of Israel.
“We approved a municipal symbol for the Jewish community and approved the establishment of 31 housing units and a kindergarten in the Hezkiyahu quarter. We will now be plan another apartment building in the market area,” Liberman said Thursday.
“We have continued the momentum of Jewish development in Hebron in a way that has not been seen in 20 years,” he added.
Hebron has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the city is divided into separate zones of control. About 800 Israeli settlers living under heavy army protection in fortified compounds live amongst the predominantly Palestinian population constituting 200,000.
Liberman’s announcement came as the Jewish community of the area planned to host thousands of visitors this week for the reading of the chapter in the Bible detailing Abraham’s purchase of the Tomb of the Patriarchs — a shrine revered by both Muslims and Jews. The holy site is believed to be the burial place for Old Testament figures including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In October, a Palestinian man was shot dead after he stabbed an Israeli soldier and lightly injured him near the flashpoint holy site.
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