HEBRON, June 19, 2026 (WAFA) – Several Palestinians suffocated on Friday after Israeli forces quelled an anti-colonization protest in Dura city, southwest of Hebron, according to WAFA’s correspondent.
He reported that dozens of Palestinians held a rally against the occupation's takeover of the Jabal Tarousa area, west of Dura, as a prelude for the establishment of a new colonial outpost.
Participants performed Friday prayers near the site before the occupation forces unleashed barrages of tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at them, causing several protesters to suffocate.
The occupying forces detained and assaulted several young men, obstructed the work of medical crews, and stopped and searched their vehicles.
On Wednesday, the occupation forces, accompanied by colonists, tore up the landscape and razed tracts of privately-owned Palestinian land in the area in preparation for the construction of the new colonial outpost.
The move follows a series of incidents that began last Monday, when armed settlers, under the protection of occupation forces, entered the area and erected a tent and a large sign announcing the establishment of a new outpost called “Nahal Doron”.
Last Tuesday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stormed Mount Tarousa and took part in the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the colonial outpost.
During his speech, Jewish supremacist Minister Smotrich announced the transfer of key planning and construction powers in Hebron from Palestinian municipal authorities to Israeli control, a move that could significantly alter administrative arrangements established under the 1997 Hebron Agreement. He described the move as a “historic correction” and part of efforts to deepen what he called Israeli sovereignty in the occupied West Bank.
The move would affect planning authority in areas that include key sites in Hebron, among them the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The latest move comes amid a series of Israeli measures aimed at reshaping the legal and administrative landscape of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian officials and rights advocates argue that such steps advance de facto annexation by steadily transferring powers from Palestinian institutions to Israeli authorities.
The issue has drawn renewed attention to Hebron’s unique status under the Oslo framework, which divided the city between Palestinian-administered and Israeli-controlled sectors while preserving certain municipal powers across both areas.
Approximately 1 million Israeli colonists are living in colonies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.
Israel uses the Jewish nationalist name “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the occupied West Bank to reinforce its bogus claims to the territory and to give them a veneer of historical and religious legitimacy.
K.F.
