GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The head of the Supreme National Committee responsible for follow-up with the International Criminal Court (ICC), Saeb Erekat, sent Oct. 18 an official letter to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. He called for expediting the opening of a criminal investigation into Israel's ongoing war crimes against the Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The letter detailed the expanding settlement activities and the attacks and violations by the extremist settlers against the city’s residents. Erekat, who is also secretary-general of the PLO, pointed out that the Israeli Cabinet had approved Oct. 14 a project worth roughly $6 million to build 31 additional settlement units in Shuhada Street.

The street is located in the H2 area in Hebron. In 1997, the PLO and Israel signed the Hebron Protocol on partial redeployment of Israeli forces from Hebron. The protocol divided Hebron into two sections: The Palestinian Authority (PA) controls the H1 area (about 80% of the city), while the H2 area is controlled by Israel. The new settlement units represent the first settlement expansion in the area since 2002 when the Israeli Civil Administration approved building 14 apartments in Tel Rumeida neighborhood. The settlement was established on a hilltop overlooking the Old City of Hebron.

He noted that the new project, the first of its kind to be built in the heart of the town since 1997, will separate Hebron’s northern and western parts. He described this development as “a very dangerous precedent” that goes against the articles of the Hebron Protocol.