2,200 Palestinians forced to evacuate Hebron homes amid Israeli raids

GAZA, Oct 24: Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari has spoken with Al Jazeera as Israeli military forces lock down Hebron and displace families.

Around 300 Palestinian families are being displaced in the al-Jaldaneighbourhood of Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces raided the areas of al-Jalda and EinDeirBahha on Friday, forcing about 2,200 Palestinians out of their homes.

Israeli forces have arrested about 70 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since Friday, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Most of those detained are former prisoners, and hundreds more have been subjected to field interrogations, the group said in a statement, adding that a number have since been released.

Raids also took place in Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and other areas; many of those released had been assaulted, blindfolded and threatened.

Residents can neither enter nor leave Hebron after Israel’s decision to close the city.Israel’s policy is clear: It is based on collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Netanyahu’s policy of forcibly displacing Hebron’s residents is being pursued for electoral purposes.

Israeli forces removed all staff from the Ibrahimi Mosque, banned all prayers and closed its gates.The humanitarian situation in the city is difficult, and its institutions are working around the clock to meet people’s needs.Israel’s operations are unjustified, and hundreds of factories have been shut down.

The journalists were near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron and were documenting the bulldozing operation there when Israeli forces fired a stun grenade near them, our colleagues on the ground report.

Israeli settlers have stormed the villages of Yabrud and Al Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to graze their sheep on Palestinian farmland and damage crops, Wafa reports.

The Palestinian news agency quoted local sources who said that settlers had entered the villages as part of wider attempts to seize land from Palestinians.

Videos posted on Telegram by Palestinians around the al-Jalda area in Hebron city show tense scenes as Israeli soldiers stand guard and military vehicles, shopping trolleys and other objects block the roads.

Israeli forces in the area have also sent in a bulldozer that could be seen alongside other Israeli military vehicles.

IssaAmro, a Palestinian activist and political analyst based in Hebron, said nearly 800,000 Palestinians in the governorate are “now under siege, with all entrances and exits closed since morning”. �" AL JAZEERA