Palestine weekly: West Bank under siege as Israelis go to the polls

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that as Israelis head to the polls, Palestinians across the occupied West Bank are facing intensified Israeli military and settler actions, with Hebron at the center of the crackdown. The article says the city was sealed after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on the northern edge of Hebron and that Israeli forces then moved into a wide operation involving house searches, arrests, road closures and forced displacement.

According to the report, thousands of residents in Hebron and nearby areas have been pushed from their homes, while bulldozers demolished homes and businesses in Farsh al-Hawa. Local officials and Palestinian groups cited by Al Jazeera said the closure has fragmented the city with numerous gates and checkpoints and has affected families including infants, pregnant women and people with disabilities. The outlet also noted warnings from Israeli rights group B’Tselem that the operation may amount to collective punishment.

The story places Hebron within a broader pattern across the West Bank: villages, roads and farming areas have also been blocked or placed under siege, including parts of Masafer Yatta, Ramallah-area communities, Madama near Nablus and areas around Bethlehem. Al Jazeera further reported a surge in attacks on olive harvesters by settlers, including theft, assaults, detentions and tree damage across multiple governorates.

The article also says Gaza remained under heavy Israeli attack, with continued deaths reported there. More broadly, Al Jazeera presents the measures as part of a wider wartime and election-period escalation that has deepened movement restrictions and insecurity for Palestinians.