West Bankupdated 1h ago3 min read
MapIsraeli Forces Displace 2,000 Palestinians In Hebron After Checkpoint Attack Kills Two Soldiers
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This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Israeli operation in Hebron displaced about 1,500 to 2,000 Palestinians from homes. The displacement followed a deadly attack at a military checkpoint that killed two Israeli soldiers.
23 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on Israel Launches Major Hebron Operation After Shooting Kills Two Soldiers, Netanyahu Orders House-to-House →
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Hebron displacement begins
Israeli forces launched a sweeping crackdown in the occupied West Bank, demolishing homes and businesses in Hebron and displacing hundreds of Palestinian families after a Friday attack on a checkpoint outside the city killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others, with the two Palestinian gunmen also killed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that buildings around the site of the attack and the neighbourhoods that the two gunmen were from would be "destroyed," and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said about 2,000 residents had been displaced by the operation. The military cordoned off Hebron, heavily restricting the movement of its 200,000 residents, and the Israeli operation centred on the Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhoods.
Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jaabari said dozens of families were forced to spend the night outside, with some told to leave without taking their vehicles, while homes were marked for demolition with spray paint. The Israeli military said in a statement on social media that it had dozens of targets across the West Bank and that its operations would last for several days, as the BBC noted it did not respond immediately to the BBC's request for comment.
Competing displacement figures
The Guardian said the Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares (86 acres) had been destroyed or marked for destruction and that about 1,500 people had been evicted from their homes by Saturday afternoon in the district of Ein Deir Baha. The Guardian also quoted Hebron civil rights activist Issa Amro saying, "Our suffering is being turned into political material for Israel’s elections, while innocent families pay the price." Haaretz reported that the Israel Defense Forces had forcibly displaced 2,231 Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank city of Hebron, and it said the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said the forced removals violate international law.
The BBC reported that Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jaabari believed the military planned to displace a total of 2,500 people from about 0.35 sq km of urban land, while the city’s governor and deputy mayor said at least 200 families had been displaced. The Times of Israel reported that IDF troops sealed the homes of Mohammad and Firas Jaaba, and it said the military "intends to continue to advance the process of demolishing their homes."
Elections and wider closures
Reuters-linked reporting in BÚSQUEDA said the offensive began three days before the upcoming Tuesday, October 27, parliamentary elections in Israel, and it warned that another 1,300 people could lose their homes. BÚSQUEDA also reported that Netanyahu announced a large-scale intervention in the West Bank and said the Army was preparing an operation of a magnitude comparable to actions taken during the Six-Day War of 1967. DW reported that the Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli operation as a 'collective punishment' and said it involved the displacement of entire neighbourhoods and the demolition of homes and facilities in the Hebron governorate.
DW said the Palestinian Authority government described the actions as part of a systematic policy implemented by the occupying government throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and it added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an operation "on a scale not seen since the Six-Day War" of 1967. The BBC reported that Netanyahu likened the operation to previous operations in Palestinian refugee camps in the north of the territory, and it said he threatened "a very big surprise" for the Palestinian Authority in an interview with Israel's i24 television channel released on Saturday.