Displacement follows military sweep in Hebron after checkpoint attack

HEBRON — Nearly 2,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Hebron following a military sweep and the takeover of homes by Israeli forces, triggered by a gun attack at a nearby military checkpoint that left two soldiers dead.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the site following the Friday attack and vowed sweeping retribution. Within hours, the West Bank’s largest city was sealed off, and the Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhood was flattened, reducing an industrial area to rubble.

According to the Hebron municipality, 370 families comprising nearly 2,000 people were displaced during the army sweep through the Ein Deir Baha district. The area was allegedly home to at least one of the two gunmen, both of whom were killed at the scene.

The military action unfolds against the backdrop of nearly 60 years of Israeli occupation in the West Bank and precedes Israeli elections scheduled for Tuesday. Critics have characterized the measures as a disproportionate political response, while local officials have denounced the operation as collective punishment.

“It’s collective punishment,” said Hebron mayor Yousef al-Jabari. “They have dragged people from their houses, and they have prevented the media from getting into the district in order to cover up what is happening. Netanyahu and his gang are using Palestinian land to displace Palestinian people, closing the city, closing the mosque, in order to achieve their political goals.”

Conflicting accounts surround the removal of residents from Ein Deir Baha. The Israeli army stated that the displaced population left voluntarily and that civilians who wished to evacuate were permitted to temporarily leave the area. The military further claimed that the affected population belonged to the Jaba’a clan, which it asserted was associated with Hamas.

Local residents and municipal figures strongly disputed these claims. Residents of Ein Deir Baha stated that they belong to a completely different family, number at most 150 people, and possess no connection to radicalism.

Displaced individuals detailed abrupt forced removals. Fahed Ahmaro, an imam from a local mosque, reported being ordered over loudspeakers to vacate immediately before discovering his house gates were blown up and his furniture destroyed.

“He told me not to come back, and the army had blown up the gates to the house,” Mr. Ahmaro said. “Now I realise how devastating it is to lose your home.”

Abdul Halim al-Tamimi, 77, stated that intelligence officers gave his family 10 minutes to leave under threat of displacement similar to Gaza, before forcing them out with three military vehicles. By Sunday morning, the Tamimi family home was festooned with Israeli flags and utilized as an army headquarters.