HEBRON: The Israeli army continued a large-scale offensive in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, forcing nearly 5,000 Palestinians from their homes.
The Hebron municipality said in a statement that 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families have been forcibly displaced from the Deir Bahha and Al-Jilda areas since the Israeli military campaign began on Friday.
Among those displaced are 336 infants, 441 elderly people, 216 pregnant and nursing women, 44 people with disabilities and 312 people suffering from chronic illnesses, the statement said.
The municipality said the figures document families forced out from their homes since the start of the Israeli campaign amid growing humanitarian consequences, particularly for people requiring special care.
The army has shut all entrances to Hebron and surrounding villages since Friday following a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the Israeli army has arrested 85 Palestinians across Hebron governorate since Friday.
Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces arrested at least nine Palestinians in military raids and closed all main entrances to Ramallah.
In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces raided the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin as well as the towns of Meithalun, Jaba and Qabatiya, arresting at least six Palestinians.
In the central West Bank, Israeli forces closed all main entrances to Ramallah, including the Ein Sinya and Atara checkpoints, the Rawabi gate and the Nabi Saleh and Aboud gates, and set up additional checkpoints on alternative roads.
In Al-Bireh, the army turned a Palestinian home into a military post, held four residents inside and confiscated their phones, according to Anadolu news agency citing local sources.
Palestinian farmers were also expelled from their land in Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, while Israeli forces raided Tuqu southeast of Bethlehem with tracked military vehicles.
In Hebron, Israeli forces also repeatedly raided the town of Taffuh and searched the homes of former prisoners.
UN Raises ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Concerns
The United Nations warned Monday that the Israeli military operation in Hebron raises serious concerns of “ethnic cleansing”.
Israel’s “aggressive operation” has already resulted in the forcible displacement of thousands of Palestinians, “demolished homes and commercial property, and deprived residents of the ability to move freely”, UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
“The sweeping steps taken raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force — which must end.”
He said the lockdown was confining many to their homes and immediate neighbourhoods.
“Declarations by senior Israeli government officials indicate that the measures implemented are punitive in nature and designed to instil fear. This is unacceptable,” said Turk.
“Those who have been displaced must be allowed to return home. Israel must ensure compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions and demolitions, and associated displacement,” Turk said.
“Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. Threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.”
Speaking earlier in Cairo, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply alarmed by Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank.
“Evictions are unrelenting, with Palestinians driven from their lands. Settler violence is surging,” he said.
“We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the spectre of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger. This must end.”
Guterres said there could be no durable peace in the Middle East “without the realisation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination”.
