Israel to reward Palestinians in Hebron for 'good behaviour'

Israeli occupation forces have called on Palestinians in occupied Hebron to “behave” in order for restrictions on residents to be reduced in the city, Ma’an has reported.

Israeli occupation forces distributed leaflets in Al-Moskobiya, Al-Salam and Al-Mahawir neighbourhoods of Hebron City stating that residents of those areas who had previously been refused entry permits to Israel would be eligible to apply tomorrow for the security ban against them to be removed.

A similar one-day campaign allowing Palestinians to appeal their travel bans was organised a week earlier for residents of Idhna, the army said in a statement, adding that 52 Idhna residents had seen their security ban lifted immediately, while 137 more cases were being studied.

“These campaigns are part of the security forces’ efforts to help peaceful Palestinian residents who do not partake in terror attacks,” the army statement read.

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However, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the army leaflets warned that “this campaign will continue in accordance with the level of the population’s non-interference in terrorist operations and stone- and Molotov cocktail-throwing incidents.”

The move is tied to Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s “carrot and stick” policy toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, whereby harsher punishment would be imposed upon families and villages from which resistance fighters originate.