Hebron lockdown displaces 3,171 Palestinians as Israel votes
Military operations in the West Bank city have intensified since two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint on Friday.
By Amira Patel ·
Israeli forces have closed off Hebron, forcing at least 3,171 Palestinians from 488 families to leave their homes by the start of the fourth day of the lockdown. Hebron Municipality data, cited by the Wafa news agency, confirmed the displacement figures on Monday. The city has remained under a strict siege since Friday.
The military action began after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an army checkpoint at the northern entrance of Hebron. The attack killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the isolation of the city following the incident. He stated that troops would search the gunmen’s neighbourhood house by house.
“We will act to destroy this place, to change it completely,” Netanyahu said. Defence Minister Israel Katz later told residents they would not be allowed to return until the army had finished dealing with all Hamas issues in the area. By Monday, soldiers had searched more than 500 homes and arrested over 70 people. The city is now fragmented by 128 closed gates and 120 checkpoints, according to Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society reported that the displaced group includes 127 infants, 81 pregnant women, and 26 people with disabilities. At least 47 people have been detained in Hebron since the initial shooting. In the Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhood, bulldozers demolished a three-apartment building owned by Riyad Amrish, along with a tile factory, an auto-parts shop, and other local businesses.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the demolitions, according to Channel 12. Israeli NGO B’Tselem warned that the operation amounts to collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes. The scale of the operation echoes last year’s military expulsions from three refugee camps in the West Bank.
Simultaneous sieges are affecting other parts of the West Bank. In the Masafer Yatta hills, the family of Yusuf Shanaran has been confined to their home in Wadi al-Rakheem for three weeks by a settler siege. In Umm Safa, near Ramallah, a demolition order with a November 11 deadline was issued for a house that has been blocked from the main road for months.
The Madama village south of Nablus is emerging from a two-week siege of its entrances. Heavy restrictions remain at the northern gate. Across the southern West Bank, twelve communities in Masafer Yatta were cut off for several days, leaving about 50 teachers unable to reach their schools. The Israeli army also barred Palestinian workers from settlements on Sunday and Monday and closed all crossings on election day.
Violence during the olive harvest has risen sharply this year. The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission counted 482 attacks on the harvest across nine governorates by Sunday. These incidents include theft, assaults, detentions, and damage to trees. Settlers burned dozens of trees in Burqa and Immatin, while a bulldozer uprooted hundreds in Madama.
In Gaza, daily attacks continued during the same week. The Gaza Ministry of Health recorded 11 deaths on Monday, bringing the toll since the October 2025 ceasefire to 1,559 killed and 5,608 wounded. Hunger worsened as crossings shut, leaving only seven of 20 commercial bakeries open. Israel told traders on October 23 that commercial goods would resume, and an Egyptian committee delivered flour to ease the shortage.
Source: Al Jazeera
