Oğuz Ibrahim Altay, President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), condemned Israel’s arrest of Hebron Mayor, Tayseer Abu Sneineh, in the occupied West Bank.

Altay described the Israeli arrest of the Palestinian official as “illegal,” warning that this step is not just a “violation of an elected mayor’s rights,” but a “direct assault on the will of the Palestinian people, local democracy, and the shared struggle of global cities.”

He noted that Abu Sneineh is not only a local government leader but also holds the regional presidency of UCLG for the Middle East and West Asia.

Altay said, “Targeting an elected representative by free will is a grave violation of democratic legitimacy.”

Altay, who also serves as mayor of Konya, Turkey, pointed out that Abu Sneineh’s arrest coincides with the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, the destruction of cities, and violations of basic human rights.

He stressed the necessity for international communities to unite for Palestine, emphasizing that silence regarding these events amounts to “complicity.”

He called for the immediate and unconditional release of Abu Sneineh, urging all parties to unite against these “illegal practices and the ongoing genocide” in Gaza.

On Tuesday, the Hebron Municipality announced that “Israeli occupation forces arrested Mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh at dawn after raiding his home with a large military force, tampering with its contents and causing material damage before arresting him.”

United Cities and Local Governments is the official voice of local governments before the United Nations, headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.

The organization aims to be “a unified voice and global defender of democratic local governance, protecting its values, goals, and interests in cooperation with local governments and the international community,” according to its official website.