Israeli authorities are planning to issue next week a building permit for the construction of 31 settlement units for settlers in the heart of the city of Hebron, according to Peace Now.

"The timing of this unexpected and dubious move appears to be connected to the impending 3 November election in the United States, when it is unclear how the position of the next administration will be toward Israeli construction in the heart of Hebron," said Peace Now. "Now, with a building permit in hand, the Israeli government can argue that construction is already a fait accompli and cannot be reversed."

The announcement about the construction was made in response to separate petitions filed by Peace Now and the Hebron Municipality against the approval of the building permit for the construction of the new settlement on the site of the old central station in Hebron.

In October 2017, the Israeli authorities approved the issuance of a building permit for the construction of a new settlement in the heart of Hebron in an area that previously served the Hebron municipality as the central station and was closed under the pretext of "security reasons."

In October 2018, the Israeli government decided to allocate NIS 21.6 million to finance the construction of the project. The Hebron municipality, as well as Peace Now, filed objections to the building permit, but the Higher Planning Council rejected them.

Peace Now and the Hebron Municipality filed petitions against this decision in the Jerusalem Administrative Court (Israel's District Court) in which they argued that the permit granted was illegal. A hearing on the petitions is expected to convene on January 31, 2021.

However, Israel was quick to issue the building permit even though the court has explicitly ruled that work should not start until the above hearing takes place.

Peace Now considered that the approval of the building permit in the heart of Hebron is "an extraordinary move not only because it is a new settlement in Hebron for the first time since 2002, but because it indicates a significant change in Israeli legal interpretation of what is allowed and forbidden in occupied territory."