Israeli defence minister says 2,000 Palestinians displaced in Hebron operation

HEBRON — Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Saturday that Israeli forces had displaced about 2,000 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, during a military operation that began on Friday.

Katz told the public broadcaster KAN that the displaced residents would not be allowed to return until what he called "Hamas infrastructure" in the city was dismantled, according to Anadolu Agency. The Israeli military has not said when the operation will end.

The operation entered its second day on Saturday. The Israeli army announced late on Friday that it had launched an operation expected to last several days, involving the Shin Bet security service and Border Police forces, according to Anadolu.

Checkpoint attack and closure

Israeli forces sealed off Hebron and the nearby town of Halhul on Friday after two Palestinians attacked an Israeli checkpoint. Israeli figures say two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded. The same figures say Israeli forces killed both attackers.

Since Friday afternoon, Israeli forces have kept the city's entrances and the main roads linking it to neighbouring towns, villages and camps closed, according to the Algerian outlet Echorouk. It reported a heavy deployment of military vehicles and the setting up of checkpoints. Vehicles were backed up, and residents could not enter or leave the city normally.

Hebron's mayor, Yousef al-Jabari, said the city was fully surrounded by dozens of military vehicles and armoured vehicles. He said Israeli forces were blocking movement in and out and carrying out widespread demolitions of homes and shops with dozens of bulldozers, according to Echorouk. The Israeli military has not commented on these claims in the material available.

Evictions and demolitions

Local estimates cited by Echorouk say about 250 Palestinian families were forced out of their homes in the Farsh al-Hawa and Abu Katila areas. Israeli forces also made dozens of residents leave homes in the al-Jalda and Ein Dir Baha areas, the report said. It added that hundreds of other families had reportedly been threatened with displacement.

The outlet said the final number of families who had actually left was unclear because the operation was continuing. Katz's figure of about 2,000 people and the local estimates of families come from different sources, and they have not been reconciled.

Families were given only a short time to collect belongings, according to local accounts cited by Echorouk. In some areas each family was reportedly allowed to take one bag of clothes. Residents were reportedly barred from taking their vehicles or removing other property. Families left furniture, belongings and sources of income behind, the report said.

In al-Jalda and Ein Dir Baha, Israeli forces entered residential neighbourhoods in the early hours of Saturday with military vehicles and bulldozers, according to the same report. Families were made to wait outdoors. Dozens of people were held and questioned in the field, and some were later released, it said.

The operation also included demolitions of residential, commercial and industrial buildings, Echorouk reported. In Farsh al-Hawa, forces demolished a residential building containing three apartments and closed the area's main entrance. Residents said evictions affected homes, shops and commercial and industrial premises. Owners rushed to move goods out for fear of losing them to demolition or seizure.

Echorouk also reported that Israeli forces took over a number of homes in different neighbourhoods, turned them into barracks and command posts, and raised Israeli flags on their roofs.

On Friday, forces demolished a three-storey residential building belonging to the Amreesh family near the site of the checkpoint attack, according to Echorouk. The residents had been forced out shortly before. Media reports said a demolition notice for the building had been issued several months before the operation, on the grounds of building without a permit.

Effects on services

Hebron's education directorate suspended schools on Sunday and Monday, according to Anadolu. Hebron University and Al-Quds Open University moved Sunday's classes online.

The municipality said rubbish was piling up because the closure of the city's entrances stopped access to disposal sites outside it.

Residents left their cars and continued on foot, Echorouk reported. Commercial and economic activity stopped. People struggled to reach health facilities and other basic services. The outlet described the case of an 11-year-old girl with cancer who had to cross a closed gate on foot to reach a medical appointment at Dura hospital after she could not get there by car.

The municipality said it had activated an emergency plan to help displaced families and stranded residents. It began work to find shelter for people who had left their homes, according to Echorouk. Some Palestinian families opened their homes to other families, the report said.

Families who were displaced fear for their homes and property, the outlet reported. It said it was not clear when the operation would end or whether residents could return.

Background

Anadolu reports that Israeli military attacks and settler violence have escalated in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. It says these have included killing and detaining Palestinians, demolishing homes and other structures, burning mosques and vehicles, bulldozing farmland, stopping farmers from reaching their fields and displacing Palestinian communities. It also cites the expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Hebron is in the southern West Bank. Halhul lies nearby and was also sealed off on Friday.