Nearly 2,000 Palestinians displaced as Israeli forces seal Hebron

The city of Hebron remains under a strict military cordon as Israeli forces continue to occupy homes in the Ein Deir Baha district. The operation began after two soldiers were killed in a gun attack at a military checkpoint on Friday. The closure has severed the city of 250,000 residents from the rest of the West Bank, leaving only pedestrians to move through streets blocked by heavy steel barriers.

Hebron had largely stayed out of the spotlight during the current election campaign. That changed rapidly after the attack, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visiting the site on television. The ruling coalition is currently trailing in polls with two days of campaigning left. Netanyahu warned of military operations on a scale not seen in the West Bank in nearly 60 years of occupation.

The physical impact on the city has been immediate. Within hours of the Friday attack, the Farsh al-Hawa neighborhood near the checkpoint was sealed off. By Sunday morning, bulldozers had reduced the area to rubble. The district previously housed car workshops, a large ceramics plant, and other industrial businesses. The destruction marks the start of a broader sweep through the city.

The displacement in Ein Deir Baha followed allegations that one of the two attackers, both killed at the scene, lived there. The Hebron municipality stated that 370 families were forced from their homes. That totals nearly 2,000 people. The Israeli army described the residents as leaving voluntarily. It added that civilians wishing to evacuate were permitted to do so temporarily.

Fahed Ahmaro, the imam of the local mosque, rejected the army's account. He was woken around midnight by loudspeakers on military vehicles ordering homeowners to leave for their own safety. Thirty members of his family lived in the house. He took his frail mother and several grandchildren to his daughter's home. As he returned to collect belongings, a neighbor called to say the army had blown up the gates of the house. Ahmaro said he did not know what he had until he lost it.

Abdul Halim al-Tamimi, 77, said soldiers arrived at his home at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. They gave his family ten minutes to leave. An intelligence officer warned that if they refused, they would be displaced in the same manner as in Gaza. The family stood outside until three military vehicles confronted them. They were forced out at 3 a.m. By Sunday morning, their villa was draped in Israeli flags and used as an army headquarters.

The army stated that approximately 2,000 local residents belong to the Jaba'a clan. It described the clan as associated with Hamas and alleged the gunmen were drawn from it. Residents of Ein Deir Baha disputed these figures. They said the clan numbers at most 150 people and has no known reputation for radicalism. Tamimi noted his family belongs to a different clan and suggested the operation serves election publicity.

By Sunday evening, all roads in and out of Hebron remained closed to cars. Delivery driver Wasam Sadi arrived at a checkpoint with a smashed windshield and glass in his eyes. He said settlers attacked him at a nearby junction. Yousef al-Jabari, the mayor of Hebron, called the measures collective punishment. He said people were dragged from their homes and that the media was kept out of the district.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank cannot vote in Tuesday's election. The outcome will determine the next government. That government will hold authority over the military operations currently underway in Hebron.