Israeli soldiers have arrested Hebron Mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh, sparking anger in the West Bank city where officials fear for their autonomy.
The Hebron city council sharply condemned the arrest. It said a large contigent of troops broke into Abu Sneineh’s home overnight and devastated the interior.
When asked for comment, the Israeli military pointed to domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet. Israeli sources said Abu Sneineh faces accusations of supporting the Palestinian Islamist Hamas organization and Islamic Jihad, as well as incitement against Israel.
But the city administration in Hebron, a city of some 200,000 located south of Jerusalem, claimed the arrest was politically motivated.
“This brutal attack is not only directed against the mayor himself, but also against the will of the people of Hebron and their elected institutions,” it said.
The arrest constitutes a “flagrant attack on the democratic process as well as the right of our people to take care of their own affairs and to serve the city in liberty and dignity.”
Palestinian media said the arrest was an attempt by Israel to establish an alternative Palestinian leadership in the city, replacing the autonomous Palestinian Authority (PA).
Leading sheikhs in Hebron had presented a plan in July to establish an emirate in the city that would maintain peaceful relations with Israel.
But the propsal sparked outrage among other Palestinian representatives, describing it as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. Observers fear events in Hebron could be the first step in dissolving the PA across the entire occupied West Bank.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been calling for the dissolution of the PA and the annexation of the West Bank by Israel.
The PA administers parts of the occupied West Bank, while the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) serves as the official representation of the Palestinians at the international level.
Both entities are separate from Hamas.
The old town of Hebron, where several hundred Israeli settlers live, is controlled by the Israeli military.
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