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Hebron official says Israeli operation displaced about 1,200 Palestinians
Displacement and demolition claims
Around 1,200 Palestinians have been forced from their homes during an Israeli military operation in Hebron, according to Yousef Zouhair Al-Jabari, the head of the city’s municipality. Cyprus Mail reported that Al-Jabari said approximately 1,300 other residents were at risk of losing their homes.
Al-Jabari also alleged that Israeli forces had demolished homes, shops, factories and roads. Residents told Reuters, as reported by Cyprus Mail, that people with no connection to the Palestinian attackers had been expelled and that soldiers marked some evacuated homes with a black X. The meaning of those markings was unclear.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said about 70 Palestinians were arrested on Friday and Saturday, according to Cyprus Mail. Israeli officials had not commented on that claim. The Palestinian Authority described the operation as collective punishment.
Israel calls operation targeted
The Israeli military and Israeli Security Agency said the operation was confined to the area from which two Palestinian gunmen had operated. They described it as a several-day effort involving searches for militants, weapons and related infrastructure, as well as questioning and security screening. The authorities said structures they considered illegal and a potential security threat were being demolished.
The operation followed an attack on Friday in which two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint in Hebron, killing two soldiers and lightly wounding three others, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The military said both attackers were shot dead and that a vehicle used in the assault contained a large quantity of ammunition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said residents would be evacuated from the neighborhood linked by Israeli authorities to the gunmen while forces searched homes, removed weapons and destroyed what Israel identified as militant infrastructure. Israeli forces had begun demolitions in Hebron’s Farsh al-Hawa area by Friday afternoon, KRDO reported in a CNN account.