In what was billed as a move to support the city, the Palestinian Authority cabinet held its weekly session in the Hebron Municipality Hall on Monday, protesting Israel's decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque on the list of its national heritage sites.
Under pressure from settlers, Israel listed Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque and Bethlehem’s Rachel’s Tomb as national “heritage sites” slated for renovation last week, sparking Palestinian protests.
In Hebron, caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the cabinet relocation was intended to mark an official Palestinian presence in the heart of Hebron as a means to counter Israel's controversial heritage list decision.
Cabinet member Muhammad Ash-Shtayeh told reporters that the appointed government will "offer what we can to Hebron and its residents."
He announced, "We will not allow for Israel to steal our history. We will take measures to force Israel to retreat from their decision."
PA Minister of Tourism Kholoud Deibes said "this is the first meeting of the cabinet outside Ramallah and is "proof that the [Palestinian] authority and government is standing by their nation against Israeli practices."
Fayyad and his cabinet arrived in the city on Monday, where they were received by Hebron Governor Hussein Al-Araj.
During the session Fayyad announced that the PA cabinet will hold its weekly sessions in cities throughout the West Bank, describing the move as "an expression of the cabinet's policy to make contact with citizens in their hometowns."
The caretaker prime minister further said the Old City of Hebron was of great importance and will ensure that stores recently shut down will reopen with the cabinet's support.
During their meeting, the PA cabinet slammed Israel's decision to lay claim to West Bank sites.
Ministers in Salam Fayyad’s government asserted that the Palestinian Authority has referred the case to international organizations to assist in countering the decision.
The cabinet denounced Israeli policies in occupied East Jerusalem including excavations causing structural damage to homes in the Old City and its environs, and the decision to renovate Damascus Gate, leading to a 24-month closure. Additionally, the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality's efforts to displace residents in the city were condemned.
The storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by Israeli forces on Sunday and its subsequent closure to Palestinians were denounced, with cabinet members highlighting that the Israeli government recent approval of 600 homes, expanding the illegal Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev and Neven Yaacov, which is likely to encroach on the nearby Palestinian neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Shu'fat.
Members said the Ramallah government is committed to the decisions issued by the UN General Assembly, granting an additional five months to complete indepedent investigations into the allegations put forward in the Goldstone report, detailing the events of the Israeli war on Gaza in December 2008.
The PA will carry out a more detailed probe into the war, cabinet members said.
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