How Israel choked off Hebron at 10 entrances, as 5,000 forced to flee

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that nearly 5,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, amid an Israeli military siege that began on October 23 after two Palestinians killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three others. The article says the lockdown has cut the city off at 10 entry points and entered its second week on Friday, October 30. Using municipal information and data from human rights groups, Al Jazeera says 4,969 people had been forced from their homes, including elderly residents, infants, people with chronic illnesses, pregnant or nursing women, and people with disabilities.

Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jabari described the situation as collective punishment, while Israeli leaders said the operation was intended to search for suspects, seize weapons and disrupt militancy. The report says the army has arrested about 110 Palestinians across the governorate over six days, carried out hundreds of field interrogations and searched more than 500 sites. It also says some homes have been turned into military posts, and that families in several neighbourhoods were ordered out during night-time raids.

The article adds that the siege has sharply disrupted daily life and commerce in a city of roughly 250,000 residents. Hebron’s Chamber of Commerce estimates daily losses at about 12 million shekels, with factory output falling and truck movement halted. Al Jazeera says the operation has also included demolitions and land bulldozing in the Farsh al-Hawa area, deepening damage in a governorate already heavily affected by demolitions and attacks this year.