Palestinians in Hebron are ‘living in fear’ with the city closed, while Israeli forces arrest dozens across West Bank.
Israel has imposed a lockdown and displaced thousands of Palestinians from their homes in Hebron, as the military conducts raids in the occupied West Bank following the deaths of two Israeli soldiers.
This comes as the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday called for international pressure on Israel to protect Hebron’s residents, who said soldiers announced evacuation orders over loudspeakers late at night, leaving them with no time to prepare and few places to move to.
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Hebron’s mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari told Al Jazeera that 2,200 people had been forced from their homes as hundreds of Israeli raids took place since Friday’s attack by two Palestinian gunmen on an Israeli army reserve base. The two Palestinians were killed, as well as the two Israeli soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then ordered a “full lockdown” of the West Bank following the attack.
Mayor al-Ja’bari said on Saturday that Hebron residents can neither enter nor leave the city.
Israeli soldiers also fired a stun grenade at Al Jazeera journalists near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron, as they documented an Israeli operation to bulldoze homes and vehicles in the area.
The Israeli military carried out raids across at least 15 areas of the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground reported.
Those targeted include Jenin and Nablus in the north; Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Birzeit, and occupied East Jerusalem in the centre; and Bethlehem in the south.
Israeli forces have arrested about 70 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said.
The PA, which governs the West Bank, called Israel’s actions “collective punishment”, citing the demolition of homes, forced displacement of entire neighbourhoods, and the “closure and siege of Palestinian cities”, and urged the international community to intervene, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Meanwhile, Hamas said in a statement that the “campaigns and escalations carried out by the occupation and its criminal settlers against our people will only fuel further outrage”.
Hundreds of thousands ‘under siege’
Around 200,000 Palestinians live in the city of Hebron itself, and a further 600,000 in Hebron governorate, making it the West Bank’s most populous governorate.
Those 800,000 Palestinians in Hebron governorate are “now under siege, with all entrances and exits closed since morning”, Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist and political analyst based in Hebron, told Al Jazeera.
“Inside the city, there is no safe place for anyone to hide … the city is really in fear,” Amro said.
Political positioning
Israeli politicians are trying to “capitalise” on the attack ahead of parliamentary elections on October 27 , Al Jazeera’s West Bank correspondent Nour Odeh said.
“Netanyahu, his Likud party, and his allies in this right-wing coalition are behind in the polls,” said Odeh, so in response they are “trying to put up a brave front, saying they’re combating Palestinians”.
Just days before Israelis are set to vote, Netanyahu avoided answering whether he planned to dismantle the PA, but said a “big surprise” awaits the organisation.