At least 1,500 Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes this Saturday due to an extensive Israeli military operation in the city of Hebron, in the West Bank, which has been under a tight siege since Friday after the death of two Israeli soldiers at the hands of two Palestinians who were subsequently killed.
The governor of Hebron, Jaled Dudin, has indicated that there are more than 200 displaced families and numerous people who have been left without shelter and must sleep outdoors, according to the official Palestinian agency WAFA. In light of this situation, the Hebron governorate has declared a state of emergency and has set up a crisis management committee to coordinate assistance for the displaced.
For his part, the mayor of Hebron, Yusef al Yaabari, has warned that the Israeli offensive could cause another 2,500 people to be forced to leave their homes in two additional neighborhoods of the city, the same ones where the alleged attackers resided, identified as Mohamad Yaaba and Firas Yaaba. The Israeli Army estimates that around 2,000 members of the Yaaba clan live in the area and links this family group to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The Israeli Armed Forces have stated that they have authorized the exit from the area for civilians who "have requested evacuation," although always through military checkpoints and after a thorough security search and interrogation.
They have also communicated the execution of at least 200 searches in Hebron without locating any weapons so far, although they have arrested ten people for interrogation.
On Friday, the Army had already indicated that the operation would last several days and that it is "focused on the area where the terrorists operated." The soldiers have been marking with an X the doors of the already evacuated homes.
The streets of the affected area remain practically empty and barely any vehicles circulate, except for the armored ones of the Israeli Army. In one of the homes, an Israeli flag has been placed, apparently in a building under military control.
The Israeli authorities have defended that the demolished buildings were illegally erected in Area C of the West Bank, under exclusive Israeli control and where building permits have not been granted for years. They have also invoked "security reasons" to justify these demolitions.