We condemn the act of groups of settlers, protected by Israeli occupation forces, seizing a Palestinian home.

This crime is part of a systematic policy to Judaize the Old City and impose a new reality on the ground by attacking citizens’ properties and closing main streets in the Zahda and Shalala areas among others, constituting a blatant violation of international laws and norms.

The municipality indicated it is proceeding with legal measures to protect the city’s cultural and historical heritage.

Videos showed settlers holding provocative parties and dances around the house, with Israeli flags raised on its walls.

The Old City of Hebron is under full Israeli control, inhabited by about 400 settlers guarded by approximately 1,500 Israeli soldiers.

According to the Hebron Agreement on January 17, 1997, between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the occupying state, the city was divided into H1 and H2 areas, granting full control of the Old City and its surroundings to the occupying state.

This comes amid Israeli talk of annexing the West Bank and establishing an emirate in Hebron, separating it from the Palestinian Authority.

On Wednesday, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Tel Aviv’s intention to annex 82 percent of the occupied West Bank and stressed the need to “prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

On Friday, Channel “Israel 24” reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss a plan to separate Hebron from the Palestinian National Authority’s influence and establish a separate “emirate” ruled by clans, in response to the intention of several Western countries to recognize the State of Palestine.

In preparation for annexation, since the start of its genocidal war on besieged Gaza, the occupying state has intensified crimes in the West Bank, including home demolitions, forced displacement of Palestinians, land confiscations, and accelerated settlement expansion.

Several Western countries including France, Britain, and Belgium announced their intention to recognize the Palestinian state during the United Nations General Assembly meetings this September.

Alongside the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,017 Palestinians, injuring about 7,000 others, and arresting more than 18,500.

With American support, since October 7, 2023, the occupying state has committed genocide in Gaza causing 63,746 deaths, 161,245 injuries, mostly women and children, over 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine killing 367 Palestinians including 131 children.

For decades, the occupying state has occupied Palestine and lands in Syria and Lebanon, refusing to withdraw and to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on pre-1967 borders.