West Bankupdated 57m ago3 min read
MapIsraeli Forces Siege Hebron, Forcing 3,043 Palestinians From Homes and Abducting 71
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Over 2,200 to 3,043 Palestinians displaced from Hebron during a four-day siege. Israeli forces closed Hebron and imposed mobility restrictions amid the operation.
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Hebron siege expands
Israeli forces continued a siege and offensive in Hebron for a fourth consecutive day on Monday, with Hebron’s mayor saying the number of Palestinians forced to leave their homes had risen to 3,043. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said the number of Palestinians abducted since the start of the Israeli military operation in Hebron had risen to 71, and Israeli forces also abducted two Palestinians on Monday in the Hebron governorate. WAFA reported that Israeli forces invaded several neighborhoods in Hebron city, broke into and searched homes, and ransacked their contents before abducting Abdullah Monther al-Zaru from the al-Kassara area.
An Anadolu Ajansı interview quoted Hebron mayor Yousef al-Jabari saying the forced evacuations affected Deir Bahha and parts of Al-Jilda and that the displaced included children, women, young men and older people. The same Anadolu account said Israeli forces surrounded Deir Bahha and Al-Jilda and used loudspeakers to order residents out of their homes, after some residents initially refused to leave before troops stormed their homes.
Displacement and shelter
Al Jazeera described Farsh Al-Hawa in Hebron as unrecognisable after Israeli forces demolished a three-story building and industrial facilities there, and it said Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the destruction.
Fahd Ahmaro told Al Jazeera that he planned to stay but felt compelled to seek shelter outside his neighbourhood because the women and children were terrified, adding, “We left with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Our savings, belongings and documents are all in the house.”
Riyadh Khamis, who serves on a committee responding to the crisis, told Al Jazeera that philanthropists opened their homes to displaced Palestinians, saying, “Hebron is known for its social solidarity and generosity.”
An Anadolu Ajansı account said the Israeli army closed Hebron’s entrances, preventing Palestinians from entering or leaving, and it quoted Yousef al-Jabari describing the measures as a “policy of collective punishment.”
The Al Jazeera report said Palestinian authorities in Hebron declared a state of emergency and created a crisis group bringing together government agencies, the private sector and civil society to respond after thousands fled their homes.
Elections, restrictions, and risk
The Guardian said Israeli forces sealed off the whole city of 250,000 people within hours after a gun attack on an Israeli military checkpoint on Friday killed two soldiers, and it said the neighbourhood of Farsh al-Hawa was flattened.
The Guardian quoted Hebron imam Fahed Ahmaro saying, “Never, never, never. Why should I leave my house?” after loudspeakers from military vehicles told homeowners to vacate their homes immediately.
The Jerusalem Post reported that multiple Israeli human rights organizations told it the forced displacement put at risk the health and wellbeing of around 1200 Palestinian civilians, and it said the IDF announced its operation in Al-Jaladah and Ein Deir Baha aimed at locating terrorists and weapons and would include demolitions.
Noa Sattath, Executive Director of ACRI, told The Jerusalem Post that “No attack, however grave, gives the military license to punish an entire city,” and she said ACRI would use legal means to make sure families return home.
DW said the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah stated that more than 2,670 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced from their homes in Hebron since the Israeli army launched its operation on Friday, and it said the Israeli Defense Minister had announced that nearly 2,000 Palestinians had been “evacuated” as part of this operation.