Hebron under siege as Israeli forces enter seventh day of lockdown

The Israeli army has maintained a strict military lockdown in Hebron for seven consecutive days, marking a significant escalation in tensions within the occupied West Bank. The largest city in the territory has seen all entrances and exits closed since last Friday, severely limiting the freedom of movement for residents. These measures have disrupted access to essential services and forced more than 3,000 people to leave the city. This exodus has been driven partly by the conversion of numerous Palestinian homes into military posts and barracks.

On Thursday, the Wafa news agency reported that two Palestinians were injured and seven were detained during new raids. In the Ras al-Joura area near the northern entrance, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians and their vehicles. This incident forms part of a broader pattern of settler violence against Palestinian communities in the vicinity of Hebron.

The current military campaign was initiated following the killing of two Israeli soldiers by Palestinian gunmen at a checkpoint near the settlement of Telem. The gunmen were subsequently killed by Israeli forces within Hebron. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on social media that he had ordered security forces to close the city immediately. He stated that the goal was to prepare for a full lockdown across the entire West Bank, which Israel refers to as Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu proclaimed that Israel would act to destroy the area and change it completely.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a comprehensive military campaign in the West Bank, drawing a direct comparison to the war in Gaza. A United Nations inquiry last year determined that the war in Gaza constituted a genocide. As the siege began, Israeli forces conducted large-scale demolitions of dozens of Palestinian buildings. Troops also raided the Ein Deir Bahha neighborhood, forcing dozens of families to flee their homes at night without their belongings.

Footage from the operation showed soldiers beating Hijazi Shawer, a 70-year-old shopkeeper and community leader. Additionally, tear gas was fired at Al-Ahli Hospital, causing panic among patients and staff. While hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law, the Israeli military has previously targeted medical facilities during its war in Gaza. Three foreign journalists were assaulted by settlers on Wednesday, with one losing consciousness and being detained without immediate medical care.

According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, at least 110 people have been detained in the Hebron governorate since the raids started. This group includes three women and seven children. The siege has also isolated 12 villages in the Masafer Yatta region to the south. Residents and farmers in these areas are cut off from urban centers and markets, while dozens of patients requiring daily care cannot reach hospitals.

Settlers have uprooted more than 200 fruit trees and destroyed water wells and agricultural facilities east of the city. They have also prevented farmers from harvesting olives, according to Wafa. Hebron is economically significant, accounting for about 40 percent of Palestinian industrial output and 30 percent of exports. Recent detentions have continued in the Khirbet Quwaweis and al-Kassara areas.

Palestinian officials accuse the hard-right government of using the operation to secure settler votes ahead of elections this Tuesday. The human rights organization Al-Haq stated that the siege violates international law and constitutes an act of aggression. The Israeli NGO B’Tselem described the operation as an act of collective punishment rather than a security measure.

Volker Turk, the UN Human Rights Chief, warned that collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. He noted that threats to empty neighborhoods raise concerns of ethnic cleansing. Roland Friedrich of UNRWA said the situation echoes the massive displacement seen in the northern West Bank in early 2025, where over 34,000 refugees remain displaced. Muhammed Shehada of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor argued that collective punishment has become a core tactic to advance de facto annexation and make life impossible for Palestinians.

Shehada told Al Jazeera that the government is using these measures as a terror tactic to prevent reactions to the pace of displacement. He stated that the goal is to punish entire communities and towns rather than just specific families, a strategy that has reached unprecedented levels since the war in Gaza.