Israeli forces displace 1,200 Palestinians in Hebron after two soldiers killed
Israeli troops have forced around 1,200 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron after an attack near the West Bank city killed two Israeli soldiers. The Palestinian Authority calls the operation collective punishment.
The Israeli military has forced about 1,200 Palestinians out of their homes in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said on Saturday. The day before, two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a military checkpoint near the city and killed two Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military says both gunmen were shot dead. The events add to tension in the West Bank just days before Israel's parliamentary elections.
The operation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the military would launch a large-scale operation. The army says it is being carried out in the Al-Jaladah and Ein Deir Baha neighbourhoods near the checkpoint at the entrance to Hebron, with the aim of searching for militants and weapons. It also said demolitions would be carried out.
The Palestinian Authority has criticised the operation as "collective punishment" and called for international pressure on Israel to protect Palestinians. Yousef Zouhair Al-Jabari, head of Hebron's municipality, said a further 1,300 people faced losing their homes, in addition to the 1,200 already displaced. He said the military had demolished shops, factories, homes and roads, calling the response disproportionate. He also suggested the operations were motivated by Tuesday's election, in which opinion polls show Netanyahu's right-wing coalition may lose its majority.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club, a non-governmental organisation, said Israeli forces arrested around 70 Palestinians on Friday and Saturday. Israeli officials have not commented on any arrests.
Residents' accounts
Residents told Reuters that many of those expelled had no connection to the attackers. One of them, Majdi Nasser, called the action arbitrary and noted that children were among those affected. Residents also saw soldiers marking vacated homes with a black X; its meaning was not immediately clear.
Settlements have expanded rapidly under Netanyahu's government. UN bodies and most countries deem them illegal, though Israel disputes this. Israel has also blocked the entrances to most Palestinian cities and towns across the West Bank, severely restricting movement. Yousef Mur, a resident of Yatta, said the closures prevented him from taking his daughter to Jerusalem for cancer treatment.
