More than 2,600 Palestinians displaced as Israeli army continues large-scale offensive in Hebron

More than 2,600 Palestinians have been displaced as the Israeli army continued a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank city of Hebron for a fourth consecutive day on Monday, amid raids, closures, and assaults on residents. The army has shut all entrances to Hebron and surrounding villages since Friday following a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers. Local sources told Anadolu that additional Israeli forces accompanied by military vehicles entered Hebron around midnight through the Farsh al-Hawa entrance, while troops raided the southern part of the city near Jabal Karbaj. Military reinforcements and large trucks arrived in the Al-Jilda area early Monday, where Israeli forces seized several Palestinian vehicles, the sources said. Anadolu footage showed Israeli forces stopping and searching Palestinians at military checkpoints near Al-Jilda Roundabout and mistreating a young man. Additional army forces also arrived in the Deir Bahha area, where Israeli forces seized several Palestinian vehicles, witnesses said. Separately, Israeli forces divided a street in the Jabal al-Rahma area between Palestinians and Israeli occupiers, restricting Palestinians’ movement in the area, according to witnesses. Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jabari told Anadolu on Sunday that the Israeli army had forced around 2,200 Palestinians from their homes and demolished five commercial and industrial structures and a three-story residential building since the operation began. A local relief committee in the area on Monday updated the number of displaced Palestinians from the area at around 2,649. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the Israeli army arrested 50 Palestinians in Hebron since Friday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz acknowledged Saturday evening that around 2,000 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced from their homes in Hebron, saying they would not be allowed to return until what he described as “Hamas infrastructure” in the city was dismantled. The operation comes amid intensified Israeli army attacks and violence by Israeli occupiers against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023. The attacks have included killings and arrests of Palestinians, demolitions of homes and other structures, the burning of mosques and vehicles, bulldozing farmland, preventing farmers from reaching their fields, displacing Palestinian communities and expanding illegal settlements.