Israel expands expulsions in occupied West Bank to cement control

The Israeli army has escalated a sweeping military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, forcing more than 3,000 Palestinians from their homes. The operation comes amid heightened tensions before Israel's general election on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking re-election.

Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin reported that 488 families comprising 3,171 people have been displaced across the wider governorate, while Mayor Yousef al-Jabari confirmed that 3,043 of those forced from their homes are from within Hebron city limits alone. The Israeli military has imposed a lockdown across the city and detained at least 71 people over the past four days.

Military tactics

The Israeli military has conducted a demolition campaign destroying residential buildings, factories and roads, while also blocking access routes, raiding homes and assaulting Palestinians. Netanyahu has justified the operation by pledging measures unseen since the 1967 war.

Systematic displacement

According to municipal authorities in Hebron, the majority of forcibly displaced Palestinians are women, children and elderly individuals. Israeli soldiers have systematically converted dozens of homes of uprooted Palestinian families into military barracks and field interrogation centers.

Professor Noman Amr highlighted the psychological warfare at play, noting that aggressive behavior aims to create panic and fear among Palestinians. This aggressive, collective punitive, terrorist, racist behaviour aims to create a state of panic, fear and instability for the Palestinian society, he said.

Jenin model

Israeli officials explicitly linked the Hebron operation to previous campaigns in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced their intention to apply the Jenin camp model to Hebron, involving forced evacuation, home inspections, weapons confiscation and road bulldozing.

Rights groups have compared the current attack on Hebron with the Iron Wall operation in early 2025 in Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps, which killed at least 102 people, displaced more than 33,000 and destroyed over half of their residential buildings. UNRWA described the resulting destruction as leaving Jenin nearly uninhabitable.

Infrastructure targeting

Analysts pointed to the systematic destruction of vital infrastructure during the Hebron operation with the goal of making displacement permanent. Targeting the main infrastructure by the occupation army forces is a targeting of the life and stability of the Palestinian human being, Amr explained, noting that targeting water wells relates to existence, stability and continuity.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that the Israeli military had established 220 barriers across Hebron, severing Palestinian communities from their lands while maintaining connectivity for illegal settlements. The Israeli army also announced it would bar Palestinian workers from entering most areas of the West Bank through Monday and enforce a full closure on Tuesday.

Mayor al-Jabari accused Netanyahu and his hard-right government of exploiting the military operation to secure settler votes. The Palestinian pays this price as electoral propaganda for the right wing, Amr echoed, adding that Israeli officials aim to correct the history that allowed Palestinians to stay after the 1967 setback or even after the 1948 Nakba.