Palestinians in Hebron accused Israel on Tuesday of trying to rid the city of "witnesses" to its actions in Judea and Samaria by ejecting a foreign observer force that has come under fire in Israel for agitating against Jewish residents.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would not extend the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, saying "we will not allow the continuation of an international force that acts against us."
Norway, which has headed the multi-country observer mission for the past 22 years, said "the one-sided Israeli decision can mean that the implementation of an important part of the Oslo accords is discontinued."
"The situation in Hebron is unstable and characterized by conflict," Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement to Reuters, adding that the end of the observer mission was therefore "worrying."
The TIPH was set up after settler Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians who were praying at the Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994. The city has also seen numerous Palestinian stabbing and shooting attacks against settlers and security forces. The TIPH draws staff from Norway, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. The TIPH website says it has 64 international staff in the city. An Israeli official said its mandate ends on Jan. 31.
The United Nations also said it regretted Israel's decision.
"While the TIPH is not a United Nations body its role in contributing positively to defusing tensions in such a sensitive area has been widely recognized," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
"[The Israelis] don't want there to be witnesses to their crimes, or any other crime they commit against the Palestinians anywhere, and especially in Hebron," said the city's mayor, Tayseer Abu Sinaneh.
Settler leaders, meanwhile, welcomed news of the force's upcoming departure. They have accused the TIPH of systematically harassing settlers.
Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community, said the TIPH observers "created an atmosphere of conflict, not a congenial atmosphere of peace."
Jews and Palestinians, he said, have inhabited the city for centuries: "We know each other and I'm sure we'll find a way to get along without Norwegian help," Fleisher said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who spearheaded the efforts to end TIPH's mandate said in November that the TIPH were pro-Palestinian, "ignore Palestinian terrorism and harm IDF soldiers by documenting their daily security activity."
On Monday she said: "A foreign force has no place in the city of our forefathers, certainly not when it works one-sidedly against the [Jewish] residents and favors the Palestinians."
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said, "The force cooperates with extremist organizations and promotes the delegitimization of Israel."
Professor Eugene Kontorovich, an international law expert and senior fellow at the Kohelet Policy Forum, said TIPH "was initially planned as a temporary force, but diplomatic inertia kept it in place."
