Temporary International Presence in Hebron international observers. (photo credit: ESTI DESIOVOV/TPS)
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Israel decided Tuesday to oust international observers from the West Bank city of Hebron, where they have monitored Israeli alleged violations against Palestinians in that city for the last 22 years.
The observer force, known as the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), operates under a mandate that is continually renewed by Israeli and the Palestinian Authority.
The mandate was due for renewal at the end of this month. Right-wing politicians and Hebron’s Jewish community have campaigned to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to renew the mandate.
In November Netanyahu said he would review the situation and on Tuesday he decided not to renew the mandate.
“We will not allow an international force to act against us,” Netanyahu said in a statement to the press.
The Hebron community immediately thanked Netanyahu and the ministers who persistently spoke out on the matter, including Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Strategic Affairs and Public Safety Minister Gilad Erdan.
“Together we proved that it is possible to bring an end to the injustice and folly that has lasted for many years,” they said.
TIPH has 13 local staff and 64 members who come from the contributing countries of Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
They are tasked with monitoring compliance with the 1997 agreement that split the city, handing 80% of it to the Palestinian Authority and maintaining 20% under Israeli control. The observers produces reports and patrols the city to give Palestinians a sense of security.
After Netanyahu’s decision Erdan issued a congratulatory statement in which he also charged that TIPH member had interfere with the work IDF soldiers and the police, created friction with the settlers and cooperated with extremist left-wing organizations that promote the delegitimization of Israel. It was charge he had already issued over the past past as part of the campaign against TIPH.
That campaign had relied heavily on two highly publicized incidents that were caught on video. In the first TIPH’s legal counsel can be seen slapping a 10-year Jewish child in Hebron across the face. The second showed staff member slashing a tire of Jew’s vehicle in Hebron.
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