Temporary International Presence in the City of Hebron

The TIPH is an international civilian observer mission. The TIPH assists the parties in the normalisation of the situation in the city and reports on their efforts and the breaches of the agreements on Hebron and international law. TIPH reports to the Palestinian and Israeli authorities and to the six member countries.

 
 

Reports to the parties

Report writing is a cornerstone of the TIPH`s work. The reports are not public, but shared with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and the six member countries of the TIPH.

The TIPH writes incident reports, fortnightly reports and quarterly reports. If the TIPH wants to draw the parties and member countries' attention to a certain trend identified or to an event deemed important or serious, the TIPH writes specific situation reports or study papers.

Since 1997 the TIPH has written more than 15 000 reports, serving as a witness and archive of the events taking place in the city over the years.

Incident reports

Observers report on incidents which they have witnessed during their daily patrols in Hebron. They also report on incidents which have been communicated to them by inhabitants of the city.

Violations of international humanitarian law, human rights standards and agreements applying to Hebron, whether committed by the Israeli or Palestinian side, are recorded in the incident reports.

Damages to private property, prolonged ID checks, physical harassments, trespassing and stone throwing are examples of incidents the TIPH reports on.


Questions

Incident reports are forwarded to the responsible authority with inquiries and questions. Among questions asked, is what measure the party intends to take to stop repetition of the reported incidents.

The parties are obliged to give an official response to the queries submitted by the TIPH. If necessary, the TIPH will demand further clarification from the parties, all with the aim to find remedies and solutions to the reported problems.


Fortnightly and Periodic Reports

The TIPH also writes fortnightly reports and periodic reports giving an overview of the situation in the city and recent developments. This includes worrying trends and serious violations of the agreements observed by the TIPH, but also positive steps taken and efforts made by the parties to normalise life in Hebron.

Fortnightly reports compile information from incident reports over a period of two weeks. Periodic reports analyses the developments observed during the last three months. In the periodic reports the TIPH also provide recommendations to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

The reports are forwarded to the six member countries and the two parties.