How Israel choked off Hebron at 10 entrances, as 5,000 forced to flee

The displacement of nearly 5,000 people represents a dramatic escalation in Israel's military operation in Hebron, which has now entered its second week. The lockdown has effectively choked the city off at 10 identified entry points, creating what officials describe as a "severe, massive siege and collective punishment." The affected population includes particularly vulnerable groups: 441 elderly people, 336 infants under two years old, 312 patients with chronic diseases, over 200 pregnant or nursing women, and 44 people with disabilities.

According to Al Jazeera's analysis of municipal data and human rights statistics, 780 families are currently displaced, representing about 2 percent of Hebron's 250,000 residents. The number of displaced persons has more than doubled in just two days, rising from approximately 2,200 on October 24 to the current figure of 4,969.

Military Operation

The siege began on October 23 following an attack in which two Palestinians shot two Israeli soldiers dead and injured three others before being killed by the army. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the closure of Hebron and ordered "a full lockdown across all of Judea and Samaria," stating, "We will act to destroy this place, to change it completely." The Israeli army claims the operation aims to "thwart terrorism" by searching for weapons and arresting suspects.

Humanitarian Crisis

The targeted eviction zone spans 0.35 square kilometers, housing more than 500 families comprising at least 2,500 individuals. Among displaced families, 283 are residing with relatives and 266 are in locations classified as unsafe. Most have sought refuge with relatives in nearby neighborhoods like Issa, with only 23 families securing rented homes and no one resorting to official shelter centers.

Israeli forces have surrounded Hebron by closing off 10 entrances located between 2.4km and 7.6km from the center. In the Farsh al-Hawa area, forces demolished a three-apartment residential building, targeted a ceramics company and car parts shops, and bulldozed approximately 7,000 square meters of land. Families were evicted from al-Jalda and Ein Deir Bahha neighborhoods when Israeli forces ordered residents to leave via loudspeakers.

Economic Impact

The siege has caused significant economic damage, with the Hebron Chamber of Commerce estimating daily commercial losses at 12 million shekels (about $3.8 million). Factory production capacity has plummeted by 40 to 60 percent, and the movement of commercial trucks has completely halted. The demolitions in Farsh al-Hawa alone caused damage exceeding two million shekels (about $640,000).

The governorate houses about 3,500 industrial facilities, particularly plastics and dairy facilities, as well as 70 percent of the gold workshops for the Palestinian market. This recent escalation compounds an already heavy toll across the occupied West Bank, where Hebron faced 272 attacks in September alone, including 122 by Israeli settlers, and 19 demolition operations that destroyed 91 structures.

Arrests and Raids

Over the first six days of the operation, Israeli military forces arrested approximately 110 Palestinians across the governorate, including seven children, people with special needs, dozens of former prisoners, and three women (two of whom were released). The military continues to hold eight relatives of the two Palestinian gunmen who killed the Israeli soldiers.

Beyond formal arrests, hundreds of citizens have been subjected to field interrogations during military raids, which the Palestinian Prisoner's Society report have been accompanied by severe beatings and abuse. The military has searched more than 500 sites in the city, though the army claims to have had "limited accomplishments" in finding weapons and faces "legal difficulties" in prolonging the displacement of residents.