TEHRAN — Israeli forces have sealed every major entry point into al-Khalil (Hebron), driving more than 2,200 Palestinians out of their homes and transforming entire residential quarters into military barracks.
The punitive siege, ordered directly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a resistance operation on Friday that killed two Israeli soldiers at a nearby checkpoint, has paralyzed the governorate of nearly 800,000 residents.
Municipal leadership in al-Khalil declared the city a disaster zone after troops moved systematically through neighborhoods including al-Jalda, Ein Deir Baha, Khallat Manna, and Dahiyat al-Zaytoun, forcing families out at gunpoint.
The mechanics of this latest aggression follow a pattern perfected by the Israeli army across the northern West Bank.
Soldiers give residents minutes to gather basic belongings before bulldozing storefronts, knocking down outer walls, and stringing razor wire across residential streets.
Over 490 housing units spanning roughly 350 dunams have been commandeered or targeted for clearing, with municipal officials warning that expulsion orders could soon reach 2,500 additional residents.
Concurrently, Israeli forces shut down the historic Ibrahimi Mosque, barring Muslim custodians and worshippers while suspending the call to prayer across the Old City.
Mass arrests have swept through more than 400 sites in a single 24-hour period, according to local prisoner groups, leaving schools closed and municipal services unable to clear accumulating waste beyond the military perimeter.
The timing of this campaign coincides with intense domestic political maneuvering ahead of Israel’s upcoming parliamentary vote.
Far-right ministers such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel Katz have openly touted the displacement of al-Khalil’s population as proof of military resolve.
Local Palestinian officials and experts point out Netanyahu’s cabinet’s use of collective punishment and the desecration of holy sites as a brutal campaign stunt to secure nationalist votes.
Meanwhile, on the agricultural front across the West Bank, regime-backed Israeli settler rampages have damaged nearly 300,000 olive trees since last year, turning the traditional harvest season into another front of land theft and displacement.
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