Hebron demolitions displace Palestinians after deadly attack
Israeli forces demolished buildings and ordered residents from parts of Hebron after an attack that killed two soldiers and two gunmen. Estimates of the number displaced differ.
Israeli forces demolished buildings and displaced Palestinians in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday, October 23, after an attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen. The operation has forced residents from their homes, though estimates of how many people were displaced differ.
Displacement estimates in Hebron
Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari told Al Jazeera on Saturday that 2,200 people had been forced from their homes. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, later put the number at about 2,000, according to Al Jazeera. France 24 cited a Palestinian official’s estimate of around 1,200 people already forced to leave, with another 1,300 potentially affected. The figures have not been reconciled.
Katz said displaced residents would not be allowed back to their neighbourhood until Israeli forces had finished dealing with what he called Hamas issues in Hebron, Al Jazeera reported. Israel described its operation in the Al-Jaladah and Ein Deir Baha neighbourhoods near a military checkpoint as a search for militants and weapons, according to the Reuters report carried by RTÉ. The military also said it would carry out demolitions.
Riyad Mureish’s home demolished
NBC News reported that bulldozers tore down the home of Palestinian businessman Riyad Mureish on Friday. Mureish told NBC that soldiers gave his family minutes to collect valuables and identity documents before ordering them out. He said a court decree should have prevented the demolition; the decree’s legal status was not independently established. NBC said he, his wife and children were sheltering in a small room at a neighbour’s home.
Mureish said he had put his life savings into the house and had been in a long-running dispute with Israeli authorities over it. ‘They demolished and took me out by force,’ he told NBC.
Raids, arrests and criticism
The Palestinian Authority criticised the operation as ‘collective punishment’, according to the Reuters report carried by RTÉ. The same report said Hebron’s mayor described Israeli forces demolishing shops, factories, homes and roads, and called the response disproportionate. NBC reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to intensify operations across the West Bank after the deadly attack.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said Israeli forces had arrested around 70 Palestinians on Friday and Saturday, according to the Reuters report carried by RTÉ. Israeli officials had not commented on those arrests. Residents told Reuters they saw soldiers mark homes with a black X after their occupants were forced out; the meaning of the mark was unclear.
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Sources and context
- Bulldozers tear down home as Israel cracks down in the West BankNBC News
- More than 2,000 forced from homes in Hebron amid Israel’s West Bank raidsAl Jazeera
- Israel begins demolitions in West BankFrance 24
- Israel displaces 1,200 people in West Bank after attackRTÉ
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.