Israel seizes historic building belonging to Hebron municipality

Israeli occupation forces closed the doors of the old building of Hebron Municipality in the West Bank on Wednesday in preparation for it to be seized, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. The historic building is in the Ain Askar area of the occupied city centre.

According to the official WAFA Palestinian news agency, the occupation forces welded the doors of the building shut. The municipality was told by the occupation army a year ago to evacuate the building in preparation for it being seized and handed over to illegal Jewish settlers.

The Mayor of Al-Khalil — to give Hebron its Arabic name — is Taysir Abu Sneineh. He described the Israeli move as a blatant assault on the municipality’s properties and facilities that it has owned since long before the state of Israel came into existence on occupied Palestinian land. He said that the occupation forces have placed many obstacles on the use of the building by the municipality.

Abu Sneineh explained that the building is part of Palestinian heritage and that the issue is still pending before the courts. The municipality, he pointed out, possesses all the legal and official documents proving its ownership of the building.

He insisted that the municipality will continue to pursue the case at all legal levels and through the international community and its institutions to invalidate this Israeli violation that affects every Palestinian citizen in the city.

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