Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday formally inaugurated a new Jewish neighborhood in the southern Mount Hebron area, marking what he called the completion of a process restoring Israeli planning and building authority over Jewish communities in the area and at holy sites, according to Israeli media.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday inaugurated a new Jewish neighborhood in the southern Mount Hebron area of Judea and Samaria, according to reports by Amichai Stein (i24NEWS). At the cornerstone-laying ceremony, Smotrich stated that the event marks the completion of a process restoring Israeli planning and building authority over Jewish communities in the area and at holy sites.
The development comes as Israel maintains military operations in southern Lebanon (see related coverage). The event builds on previous activity: as The Zioneer reported, Smotrich held a separate ceremony at an unauthorized outpost near Hebron on Monday, which Palestinian-affiliated sources described as the establishment of an outpost that drew local criticism. Today's event appears to be a separate, official neighborhood initiative rather than a repeat of that earlier event.
No further details on the neighborhood's planned size, number of housing units, or timeline for construction were immediately available from the initial reports.
2 developments
- StrongSmotrich: I canceled Hebron Accord's civil planning clauses, restoring full Israeli authority
- DevelopingHamas issues formal warning over Smotrich's Hebron sovereignty push
- DevelopingSmotrich defends Judea and Samaria tax benefits as recognition of heroism
- DevelopingSmotrich repeats call to demolish buildings in Beirut's Dahiyeh today
Source and signal
- Internal intake