Hebron lockdown enters ninth day; nearly 5,000 Palestinians displaced
HEBRON — Israel’s military lockdown, raids and demolitions in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron entered their ninth consecutive day. According to the Hebron Municipality, 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families have been forcibly displaced from the Deir Bahha and Al-Jalda neighbourhoods, while around 5,000 people overall are affected by the siege and forced displacement….
HEBRON — Israel’s military lockdown, raids and demolitions in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron entered their ninth consecutive day. According to the Hebron Municipality, 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families have been forcibly displaced from the Deir Bahha and Al-Jalda neighbourhoods, while around 5,000 people overall are affected by the siege and forced displacement.
The operation began on October 23 after a shooting near Hebron’s northern entrance killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. Israel says the campaign targets militants and weapons, while Defence Minister Israel Katz said residents would not be allowed to return until the military had finished addressing what he called “all the Hamas issues in Hebron.”
Vulnerable groups make up a significant share of those displaced. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said they include 127 infants, 81 pregnant women and 26 people with disabilities; the municipality earlier reported 336 infants, 441 elderly people, 216 pregnant or nursing women and 44 people with disabilities among the displaced.
Israeli forces have sealed multiple entrances to the city, set up military positions in residential areas and, according to Palestinian officials, converted some vacated homes into barracks or observation posts. Palestinian authorities and rights groups have described the demolitions and closures as collective punishment and called for urgent international intervention.
