GAZA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The recent Israeli government's decision to provide settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron a "special authority" to rule their affairs is unprecedented, and it could boost settlement presence and undermine the principle of the two-state solution, according to Palestinian observers.
They agreed that the endless increase of Israeli settlement activities and the attempts to organize it in the West Bank and make it legal "would fully undermine the principle of the two-state solution, which is backed by the world to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been going on for so many decades."
Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee said in an emailed press statement that "this Israeli decision is a concrete implementation of the Greater Israel project, which includes annexing more Palestinian territories to the state of Israel."
He accused Israel of acting to "effectively demarcate, grant and recognize the illegal settlements and grant these settlements a sovereignty over the land of the occupied Palestinian state in flagrant violation to the international laws, norms and the United Nations resolutions."
The senior PLO official called on the international community to "immediately and urgently take concrete and practical measures to compel Israel, the occupying power, to immediately reverse and annul the formation of the so-called Hebron Settlers' Affairs Council."
The Israeli authorities had given a special authority to the settlers who live in the West Bank town of Hebron to independently administer their municipal affairs.
The Israeli army said in a press statement that it signed an order to strengthen the powers of the settlers who were running their daily affairs through a council representing a local administration that did not have legal status.
The army statement said that a council would be formed to represent the residents of the Jewish settlement in Hebron and provide municipal services in various areas.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he ordered a change in the status of the settlers' council in Hebron and vowed to do more for them.
"The strengthening of the Jewish community in Hebron is very important to him and he is determined to continue to develop settlements so that he can grow and flourish," Lieberman said in a statement issued by his office.
The population of the city of Hebron is about 250,000 Palestinians, including some 800 settlers, who live under the protection of the Israeli army.
According to political analyst from Gaza Adnan Abu Amer, the Israeli decision to form a municipal council for the settlers in Hebron "paves the way for the establishment of a settlers' state in the West Bank."
He referred to Israel's allocation of 42 percent of the West Bank territory for settlement expansion, including lands in the area classified under the Oslo Interim Peace Agreement signed between the PLO and Israel in 1993, as area C, which is under the full Israeli security and administrative control.
He also noted that the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem currently exceeds 750 thousand, after it was limited to less than 120 when Oslo agreement was signed.
Abu Amer said Israel's escalation of the presence of its settlers and the start of granting them an authority to manage their affairs is "in anticipation of the outcome of negotiations with the Palestinians, and paves the way for the possibility of repeating the step with the rest of the West Bank settlers."
The settlement is the most important file of the dispute between the Palestinians and Israel in light of the cessation of peace negotiations between them since the end of March in 2014 after nine months of talks sponsored by the United States without progress.
The West Bank writer and political analyst Abdul Majid Suwailm, said that the recent settlement actions, mainly granting a first ever special authority for settlers in Hebron, "proves that settlement has become the only element of the ruling right-wing party in Israel."
"Settlements have become the major concern in the Israeli policy," he told Xinhua, adding that "so that the occupation becomes the shepherd and protector of settlement, and settlement policies have become an absolute priority."
He referred to "the transformation of Israel budgets and large financial resources to the mechanisms agreed upon by the parties to the right-wing camp to move the settlement to a political safety valve for the steadfastness and control of the right political equation in Israel."
Last December, the UN Security Council issued resolution 2234 on the illegality of Israeli settlements, stressing that settlements are "illegal under international law" and called on Israel to immediately and completely halt all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
However, Israel rejected the resolution and ignored its commitment.
Israel's decision to grant its settlers a special authority in Hebron came days after a tour of the U.S. delegation to the region led by U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser, Jared Kushner.
Hani Habib, a Gaza-based writer and political analyst linked between the Israeli settlement's escalation and Trump administration's position towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the U.S. President encouraged settlement and adopted the principle during his campaign.
Habib said the latest tour of the U.S. delegation to the region "did not provide answers to the ongoing Palestinian demands by setting a clear reference to the negotiating process of a two-state solution and the need to stop settlement construction."
"It is certain that the United States does not have any position close to the Palestinian demands, which are considered as entitlements to ensure the success of the peace process," he said.
Habib went on saying that "this is a sufficient reason for the Palestinian leaders not to pin any hopes on identifying a U.S. position that could succeed in resuming the negotiating process."
Habib noted that the U.S. position is exploited by Israel to continue the settlement process, while time goes by without any progress on the Palestinian-Israeli file, which requires the Palestinians to seek alternatives before undermining all chances of establishing a state for them.
