Nearly 5,000 Palestinians displaced in Israel's Hebron siege

Nearly 5,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes in Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank as Israeli military operations entered their fifth consecutive day, while raids and settler attacks continued across the territory.

The Israeli army has closed all entrances and exits to Hebron while carrying out operations in the neighbourhoods of Deir Baha and al-Jilda, the hometowns of two Palestinians who carried out a shooting attack on Friday that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to carry out collective punishment against the neighbourhoods following the shooting.

Ola al-Qawasmi, a spokesperson for Hebron Municipality, told The New Arab that municipal records showed 780 families, comprising 4,969 people, had been displaced from their homes.

Those displaced include 336 infants under the age of two, 441 people aged 60 and above, 216 pregnant or breastfeeding women, 44 people with disabilities and 312 people with chronic illnesses, al-Qawasmi said.

She added that displaced families had sought shelter with relatives, while the municipality had opened temporary shelters in preparation for further displacement as the Israeli operation and siege continued.

Military raids and settler attacks

The United Nations said on Tuesday that more than 3,000 people had been displaced by Israeli forces in Hebron since Friday, as humanitarian organisations supported local authorities in responding to the needs of affected residents.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, settlers attacked the village of Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah, and set fire to three cars, according to village council head Marwan Sabah.

Settlers also stormed the courtyards of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday morning under Israeli police protection and performed Talmudic rituals. Israeli officials and far-right settlers have increasingly challenged the longstanding status quo at Islam's third-holiest site, under which non-Muslims may visit but are not permitted to pray.

In Nablus governorate, a 44-year-old Palestinian was shot in the foot by Israeli forces at the Huwara checkpoint south of the city. The Palestinian Red Crescent said troops had initially prevented its medical teams from reaching the scene after receiving reports that a vehicle had come under fire. They later allowed medics to enter and evacuate the wounded man to hospital.

A 50-year-old Palestinian was also injured in a settler assault in the town of Burqa, northwest of Nablus, according to the Red Crescent.

Israeli forces also bulldozed memorials erected in honour of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the villages of Beita, Rujeib, Azmut, Madama and Iraq Burin, as well as the town of Beit Furik, east and south of Nablus.

Troops raided several communities across the West Bank, turned homes into military barracks and carried out arrests and house searches in multiple governorates on Tuesday and overnight. Israeli forces also tightened restrictions at checkpoints and roadblocks at the entrances to towns and villages.

In the village of Burin, south of Nablus, Israeli forces had been carrying out a raid since around 2am on Tuesday, according to village council head Ibrahim Omran, who spoke to The New Arab.

Omran said troops had seized a building and converted it into a military barracks while conducting widespread raids on residents' homes. Around 20 Palestinians had been detained, he said, with all but two released by the time he spoke. The raid was still ongoing.

Olive harvest disrupted by settler violence

Settler attacks have also targeted Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.

In Madama, south of Nablus, a settler uprooted electricity poles, damaging the village's power network and obstructing residents' access to their land. An armed settler also forced four Palestinian families to leave while they were picking olives.

Elsewhere, settlers attacked olive harvesters in several villages around Nablus and Ramallah, smashing a vehicle and stealing harvested olives.

In other incidents, settlers closed off the al-Himma spring in the northern Jordan Valley and fenced off privately owned Palestinian land, cutting off a water source used by residents and livestock, according to Hasan Malihat, director of the al-Baydar Human Rights Organisation.

Israeli forces and settlers also prevented farmers from harvesting olives in Barta'a and Turmus Ayya.

In Masafer Yatta, Israeli forces raided a Palestinian home after settlers attacked the property and assaulted family members, forcing the family to leave. Troops later arrested the homeowner and his son, according to activist Osama Makhamreh.

In Beita, south of Nablus, settlers attacked Palestinian homes and fired live ammunition at residents' vehicles as young men confronted them. No injuries were reported.