OMM Newsroom
The Israeli army continued its large-scale offensive in the West Bank city of Hebron for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, displacing nearly 5,000 Palestinians from their homes.
The Hebron municipality said 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families had been forcibly displaced from the Deir Bahha and Al-Jilda areas since the military campaign began on Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.
Those displaced include 336 infants, 441 elderly people, 216 pregnant and nursing women, 44 people with disabilities and 312 people with chronic illnesses, the municipality said. It said the figures reflect families forced from their homes and the growing humanitarian consequences, particularly for people needing special care.
The army has closed all entrances to Hebron and surrounding villages since Friday, following a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.
Footage by Anadolu Agency showed Palestinian residents being stopped, searched and mistreated by Israeli forces at military checkpoints near Al-Jilda Roundabout. Witnesses said additional military reinforcements had arrived in Ein Deir Baha, where Israeli forces took over several Palestinian buildings and converted them into military posts.
The Palestinian Prisoner Society said the Israeli army had arrested 85 Palestinians across Hebron governorate since Friday.
Raids and closures elsewhere in the West Bank
Israeli forces arrested at least nine Palestinians in raids elsewhere in the occupied West Bank and closed all main entrances to Ramallah.
In the north, forces raided Jenin’s eastern neighbourhood and the towns of Meithalun, Jaba and Qabatiya, arresting at least six Palestinians, according to local sources. A Palestinian man was detained during a raid on Aqraba, southeast of Nablus. Forces also entered the southern Al-Hawouz area of Qaffin in Tulkarm governorate and raided a home in the town’s western neighbourhood.
In the central West Bank, the army closed Ramallah’s main entrances, including the Ein Sinya and Atara checkpoints, the Rawabi gate, and the Nabi Saleh and Aboud gates. It also set up additional checkpoints on alternative roads.
In Al-Bireh, Israeli forces converted a Palestinian home into a military post, held four residents inside and confiscated their phones, local sources said. Palestinian farmers were expelled from their land in Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, while forces raided Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, using tracked military vehicles.
In Hebron governorate, Israeli forces repeatedly raided Taffuh and searched the homes of former prisoners. Soldiers assaulted a Palestinian man in the Hawara area south of Hebron before arresting him and his son, according to local sources.
Vehicles set alight in Umm Safa
Separately, Israeli settlers set fire to three Palestinian vehicles early Tuesday in Umm Safa, west of Ramallah. Village council head Marwan Sabah told Anadolu Agency that a group of settlers entered the village around midnight and set the vehicles ablaze.
“Confrontations broke out between residents and the attackers, forcing the settlers to withdraw,” Sabah said.
He said Umm Safa had repeatedly faced attacks by Israeli settlers, including assaults on residents, vehicle arson, intimidation and harassment. Settlers had also seized large areas of village land, he added.
The Al-Baidar rights group said Israeli settlers had established an outpost at the northern entrance to Al-Bireh, overlooking the Al-Balou neighbourhood.
According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli settlers attempted to establish 21 new outposts across the West Bank in September, including 10 in Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate.
The incidents come amid intensified Israeli army raids and settler attacks against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023.
