West Bankupdated 55m ago2 min read
MapUN Rights Chief Volker Türk Warns Israel’s Hebron Operation Risks Ethnic Cleansing
“as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu carries out collective punishment in a bid to shore up support ahead of Israel’s elections”
“Some Palestinian officials have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of launching a crackdown in the West Bank to coincide with the vote”
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UN rights chief warns Hebron operation risks ethnic cleansing. Collective punishment constitutes grave violation of international law.
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Hebron operation and displacement
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned about the risk of ethnic cleansing in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army launched a wide operation after the death of two soldiers in an attack. Türk said in a statement, “Collective punishment constitutes a grave violation of international law,” and he added that “The threats to empty and erase entire neighborhoods also raise serious concerns about a possible ethnic cleansing.” The Hebron municipality stated in a press release that 3,189 people were forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing operation.
The offensive followed an attack on Friday in which two Palestinians killed two soldiers at a checkpoint near the city, and the attackers died in a shootout. Israeli troops entered the Ein Deir Baha neighborhood in Hebron and ordered residents to collect their belongings and leave the area.
Evacuation accounts and protests
Abdel Shokr told L'Orient Today by phone Oct. 26 that he was “the first person to be evacuated by the Israeli army,” and he recalled that a video showed him holding a white blanket around midnight with his wife and two children.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli troops fired a stun grenade on Tuesday to disperse Palestinians who gathered to protest against an Israeli military operation that has displaced thousands of residents from a neighborhood in Hebron.
An elderly man held a placard at the protest that said: “No to collective punishment, no to closures, and no to displacement.”
Noura Nassar, a displaced resident who attended the protests, said she had struggled to get medical treatment because of the blockages, asking, “Where is the democracy in all of this? Their elections are today, sure, but what about us?”
The Jerusalem Post also said the unrest unfolded as Israelis were voting in an election in which the country's posture in the West Bank has been a major political issue.
Stakes, lockdown, and return
The UN warned that Israel’s “aggressive operation” must end, and it said the sweeping steps taken raise “grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force – which must end.” Volker Turk said the lockdown was confining many to their homes and immediate neighborhoods, and he added, “Those who have been displaced must be allowed to return home.” France 24 reported that the UN raised “ethnic cleansing” concerns after Israel’s operation to displace by force more than 3,000 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron in the West Bank.
The Jerusalem Post said Israel blocked the entrances to most Palestinian cities and towns across the West Bank after the Friday checkpoint attack, severely curtailing Palestinians' freedom of movement. The Jerusalem Post also quoted Sana' Salman Abu Sneineh, an expelled resident, saying, “Among themselves they will elect who is the oppressor and who will destroy the Palestinian people.”