Israel Transfers Authority Over Hebron to Military, Smotrich Confirms

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on 17 June 2026 that Israel has transferred full civil and security authority over the West Bank city of Hebron to the Israeli military, a move that includes control of the Cave of the Patriarchs, one of the most contested holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The announcement marks a significant shift in the administrative status of Hebron, a city of roughly 200,000 Palestinians that has been subject to a complex and deeply contentious governance arrangement since the 1997 Hebron Protocol, which divided the city into Israeli-controlled and Palestinian Authority-controlled zones.

A Contested Holy Site at the Centre of the Move

The Cave of the Patriarchs — known in Arabic as the Ibrahimi Mosque — holds profound religious significance for both Muslims and Jews. The site has been a flashpoint for violence for decades, most notably the 1994 massacre in which Israeli-American settler Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinian worshippers.

Control of the site has long been a source of friction between Israeli authorities, Palestinian residents, and the international community. Its inclusion in the transfer of authority signals the breadth of the Israeli government’s move.

Context: A Far-Right Government Reshaping Facts on the Ground

Smotrich, who leads the far-right Religious Zionism party and holds a secondary defence portfolio overseeing civilian affairs in the West Bank, has been a driving force behind the expansion of Israeli administrative control over Palestinian territory.

The transfer of authority to the military effectively bypasses existing civilian governance structures and raises questions under international humanitarian law, which governs the obligations of occupying powers toward civilian populations.

The announcement has not yet been accompanied by a detailed official statement outlining the legal basis or operational scope of the transfer. The extent to which Palestinian residents will be affected by the change in day-to-day administration remains unclear.

Reactions and Implications

The move is expected to draw sharp condemnation from Palestinian leadership and international human rights organisations, who have consistently characterised Israeli policy in Hebron as a form of institutionalised dispossession of the city’s Palestinian majority.

Hebron has long served as a microcosm of the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a small community of Israeli settlers living under heavy military protection in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian city. Critics argue that the latest move accelerates a pattern of unilateral annexation by administrative means.