Israeli Hebron Operation Displaces Nearly 2,000 Ahead of Elections
WHO:
Al Jazeera - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the Hebron operation and said threats to empty and erase neighbourhoods raised “serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.”
Al Jazeera - Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, said Israel’s actions formed part of a broader strategy to “exterminate and displace Palestinians.”
The Guardian - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited Hebron after an attack on an Israeli military checkpoint.
The Guardian - Palestinian residents displaced from Ein Deir Baha included 370 families, nearly 2,000 people, according to Hebron municipality.
The Guardian - Fahed Ahmaro, the local mosque’s imam, said 30 members of his family lived in his house.
The Guardian - Abdul Halim al-Tamimi, 77, said soldiers gave his family 10 minutes to leave.
The Guardian - Hebron mayor Yousef al-Jabari called the operation “collective punishment.”
The Guardian - The Israeli military said displaced residents had left voluntarily and that civilians wishing to evacuate were allowed to leave temporarily.
The Guardian - The military said 2,000 local people belonged to the Jaba’a clan and described it as “associated with Hamas”; residents disputed the clan’s size and characterization.
Truthout - Israeli forces displaced over 3,000 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron.
WHAT:
Al Jazeera - A UN commission of inquiry accused Israel of crimes against humanity in the occupied West Bank, including extermination, torture, rape, other sexual violence and persecution.
Al Jazeera - The commission reported 254 Palestinians killed in West Bank air attacks from October 7, 2023, to September 30, 2026, compared with six from 2008 to October 6, 2023.
Al Jazeera - The commission said Israeli forces continued to commit “genocidal acts” in Gaza despite a US-brokered ceasefire.
Al Jazeera - Gaza’s Health Ministry reported at least 74,500 people killed in the war and said nearly the entire population had been displaced.
Al Jazeera - The commission found that Palestinian Authority security forces targeted dissenters and that the killing and wounding of journalists and human rights defenders had narrowed space for civil society.
The Guardian - Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a gun attack on a military checkpoint.
The Guardian - Israeli forces sealed off Hebron, flattened the Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhood and emptied homes in Ein Deir Baha.
The Guardian - Farsh al-Hawa’s industrial area included car workshops and a ceramics plant; by Sunday morning it was rubble.
The Guardian - Israeli soldiers used the Ahmaro family home as a military position and the Tamimi family villa as army headquarters.
The Guardian - Roads into and out of Hebron remained closed to cars; a delivery-truck driver, Wasam Sadi, said settlers attacked him near a checkpoint, smashing his windshield and leaving glass in his eyes.
WHERE:
The Guardian - Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, has a population of 250,000; Farsh al-Hawa and Ein Deir Baha were among the affected districts.
WHEN:
Al Jazeera - The commission’s report was published the day before Israel’s general election.
WHY:
The Guardian - Netanyahu and Smotrich vowed retribution after the checkpoint attack. The operation took place during Israel’s election campaign; Palestinians in the occupied West Bank could not vote in the elections.
HOW:
Al Jazeera - Türk said the Hebron lockdown had prevented residents from moving freely; he called for displaced people to be allowed to return and for compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions and demolitions.
The Guardian - Military loudspeakers ordered residents to leave; Ahmaro said soldiers blew up his home’s gates, while al-Tamimi said military vehicles forced his family out.
(UPDATED October 27, 2026 04:09 UTC)
Israeli forces sealed off Hebron, flattened the Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhood and emptied homes in Ein Deir Baha after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a checkpoint attack; the military said residents left voluntarily, while families described being given minutes to flee and more than 3,000 Palestinians were displaced. UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the operation, warning that threats to empty and erase neighbourhoods raised serious concerns of ethnic cleansing, while a UN commission accused Israel of crimes against humanity in the occupied West Bank and said genocidal acts continued in Gaza despite a ceasefire. The commission also reported that at least 74,500 people had been killed in Gaza, while Israel’s military said its Hebron operation followed the checkpoint attack and described a local clan as associated with Hamas, a characterization residents disputed.
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(UPDATED October 26, 2026 23:12 UTC)
Israeli forces sealed off Hebron after a gun attack on a military checkpoint killed two soldiers, flattening the Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhood and forcing Palestinians from homes in Ein Deir Baha. Hebron’s municipality said 370 families, nearly 2,000 people, were displaced, while another account put the total above 3,000; residents described being ordered out, and the Israeli military said civilians left voluntarily and could evacuate temporarily. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the city and vowed retribution, as Mayor Yousef al-Jabari called the operation “collective punishment.”