OIC slams Israel termination of Hebron monitors mandate

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AA) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Saturday condemned Israel’s decision to terminate the mandate of international monitors in the West Bank city of Hebron.

In a statement, the pan-Muslim grouping said that the Israeli decision was a “violation of international agreements”.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would not renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), which was first dispatched to Hebron in 1994.

The OIC called on the international community to keep the TIPH mandate and provide protection for the Palestinian people with a view to “putting a limit to Israeli violations and aggression”.

Composed of 64 international observers from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey, the TIPH was established by UN Security Council Resolution 904.

That resolution was adopted following Hebron’s 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, when Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein gunned down 29 Palestinian worshippers.

Hebron is currently home to some 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 500 Jewish settlers. The latter live in a series of Jewish-only enclaves heavily guarded by Israeli troops.