Israel Plans New Jewish Enclave in Hebron, Radio Reports

(Bloomberg) -- Israel plans to build a new neighborhood for Jewish settlers in volatile Hebron, the only West Bank town where Israelis live among Palestinians, local media reported.

Naftali Bennett, the caretaker defense minister in Israel's transition government, has ordered planning to begin for an enclave in the city's long-shuttered casbah, or market, Israel Radio reported.

The biblical city has been a center of violence between Palestinians and Jews for decades, and is the traditional burial site of Abraham, a figure revered by both Jews and Muslims. The city is home to one of the most militant Jewish settler communities, numbering about 1,000 people, who live in heavily fortified enclaves in the midst of more than 200,000 Palestinians.

“Israel's decision to build a new illegal settlement in ococupied Hebron is the first tangible result of the U.S. decision to legitimize colonization,” Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary General Saeb Erekat said on Twitter, calling for international sanctions against Jewish West Bank settlements.

In a major policy shift earlier this month, the U.S. deemed that settlements aren't a violation of international law.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Teibel in Jerusalem at ateibel@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, James Amott

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