Hebron:The Israeli army has displaced approximately 1,500 Palestinians from 250 families in Hebron, located in the southern occupied West Bank, with plans to displace an additional 2,500 individuals imminently, according to a statement from the municipality on Saturday.
According to Anadolu Agency – English, the Hebron municipality specified that the displaced families resided in the Deir Bahha and al-Jilda neighborhoods, which together comprise 500 families. Israeli forces have marked the evacuated homes and distributed notices instructing the remaining families to leave without their vehicles.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has issued a warning regarding inflammatory Israeli statements that threaten further forced displacement and the destruction of neighborhoods in Hebron. The ministry has characterized these threats as attempts to repeat the 'Nakba' and engage in ethnic cleansing, urging Palestinian embassies and diplomatic missions to take immediate international action to prompt governments to adopt firm stances against such Israeli practices.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during an incursion into Hebron on Friday, announced preparations for a large-scale military offensive in the occupied West Bank, which includes the displacement of Palestinians from their neighborhoods and raids on their homes. He referenced a successful offensive model previously implemented in refugee camps in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli army's siege on Hebron continued into its second day on Saturday, as part of the military offensive initiated on Friday. The city was closed off following an incident where two Palestinians fired at an Israeli checkpoint, resulting in the deaths of both attackers and two Israeli soldiers, along with injuries to three other soldiers.
The ongoing conflict in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been marked by increasing Israeli military attacks and violence since the onset of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023. These actions have involved the killing and detention of Palestinians, demolition of homes and structures, burning of mosques and vehicles, bulldozing of farmland, prevention of farmers accessing their fields, and the displacement of Palestinian communities, amidst illegal settlement expansion.
Palestinians warn that these Israeli measures could lead to the formal annexation of the West Bank, jeopardizing the prospects of establishing a Palestinian state in line with relevant United Nations resolutions.