Nearly 5,000 Palestinians displaced in Hebron as Israeli military lockdown enters ninth day
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Nearly 5,000 Palestinians displaced in Hebron as Israeli military lockdown enters ninth day")
Smoke rises as the Israeli military demolishes the home of one of the two Palestinian gunmen who killed two Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint the previous week, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on October 30, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Nearly 5,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Hebron as Israel's military operation, home demolitions and restrictions enter their ninth consecutive day.
Around 5000 Palestiians have been displaced from their homes in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron since an Israeli military operation and lockdown began last week, according to local authorities cited by Al Zareea. The raids, restrictions and demolitions continue for the ninth consecutive day on Saturday as Palestinian officials continue to call for international pressure on Israel.
The displacement count has climbed since the operation began. On the first day, Hebron's mayor said about 2,200 people had been forced out, while Katz put the figure at roughly 2,000. The Palestinian Authority later reported more than 2,670 displaced, citing data from Hebron Municipality. By Tuesday, the municipality said 4,969 people from 780 families had been displaced from the Deir Bahha and Al-Jilda areas.
The displaced are mostly vulnerable residents. The Palestinian Prisoner's Society said those forced out included 127 infants, 81 pregnant women and 26 people with disabilities. Al Jazeera reported that families were given five minutes to collect belongings before a bulldozer demolished a three-storey building, and that they are sheltering in temporary facilities set up by the municipality.
The operation began after a shooting near Hebron on Friday morning left two Israeli soldiers dead and three others injured. The two suspected gunmen, Palestinians from Hebron, were killed. Israeli forces then locked down the city and displaced residents from several neighbourhoods.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said residents would not be allowed back until the military had finished addressing what he called "all the Hamas issues in Hebron." Israel has said the operation targets militants and weapons.
The Palestinian Authority has called the demolitions and closures "collective punishment." Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces have converted some evacuated homes into barracks and observation posts. Helmi al-Araj, director of the Ramallah-based Hurryyat Centre for Defence of Liberties and Civil Rights, says Israel’s nine-day siege of Hebron is the blueprint for wider annexation of the occupied West Bank.
