The United Nations warned on Monday, October 26, that Israel’s military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron raises serious Hebron ethnic cleansing concerns. UN rights chief Volker Türk said the operation had already displaced thousands of Palestinians, demolished homes and commercial property, and restricted residents’ freedom of movement.
Türk described the operation as aggressive and called for its use of force to end. He said the lockdown in the city was confining many people to their homes and their immediate neighbourhoods.
“The sweeping steps taken raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, which must end,” Türk said in a statement issued by the UN human rights office. He added that statements by senior Israeli government officials indicated the measures were punitive in nature and designed to instil fear.
“This is unacceptable,” he said. “Those who have been displaced must be allowed to return home.”
What the Hebron ethnic cleansing concerns are based on
Türk said Israel must ensure compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions and demolitions. He warned that collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. Threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods, he said, raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.
The Hebron municipality said 3,189 people had been forced from their homes by the ongoing operation. The UN human rights office, in its own statement, put the number at more than 2,000 Palestinians displaced since Friday. The counts differ by source, but both point to large-scale displacement from a single city operation.
What triggered the Hebron operation
The operation began on Friday, October 23, after two Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron and were killed in a shootout. The attack took place days before Israeli elections scheduled for Tuesday, October 27.
Israeli troops then entered Ein Deir Baha, the Hebron neighbourhood where the two attackers had lived, and ordered residents to leave. Homes and commercial property were demolished as the operation widened, according to the UN rights chief.
The Israeli military has said the operation was expected to last several days, focused and limited to the area from which the attackers had operated. That account differs sharply from the UN’s description of a sweeping operation affecting thousands of people across the city.
Why the UN warning matters now
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking in Cairo earlier on Monday, said he was deeply alarmed by Israeli actions in the West Bank. “Evictions are unrelenting, with Palestinians driven from their lands. Settler violence is surging,” he said.
“We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the spectre of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger. This must end,” Guterres said. He added that durable peace required the realisation of Palestinian self-determination.
The two statements, from the UN rights chief and the secretary-general on the same day, give the Hebron operation a weight it did not carry over the weekend.
How this story has developed since Friday
Feature Pakistan has followed the Hebron operation since it began. Two soldiers were killed at the checkpoint on Friday, and Israel launched a major West Bank operation in response. By Saturday, families in Ein Deir Baha were being displaced as the operation expanded.
At that stage, the reported scale of displacement was still disputed. The municipality’s figure of 3,189 displaced people, published on Monday, is the fullest count so far, and the first to come with the UN’s formal warning attached.
The wider region remains tense. Egypt has approved military support for Saudi Arabia, Iran’s president has urged regional unity in Tehran, and three people were arrested in Jordan over a church attack.
What happens next
The immediate question is whether displaced residents will be allowed to return home, as Türk has demanded. A second question is how long the operation will last: the military has said it expected it to run for several days.
Sources: the UN human rights office statement and Dawn’s report on the UN warning.
What did the UN say about Hebron?
Türk said the operation had displaced thousands of Palestinians and demolished homes and commercial property. He warned that threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.
How many people have been displaced?
The Hebron municipality said 3,189 people had been forced from their homes. The UN human rights office put the number at more than 2,000 displaced since Friday.
