Israel demolishes homes of Hebron checkpoint gunmen as UN says about 3,000 Palestinians remain displaced in the city

Israel’s military on Friday 30 October demolished the homes of the two gunmen who killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron on 23 October, Reuters reported. Both attackers were killed in the attack.

In a statement on the demolitions, the military said it would “continue to operate proactively and offensively” to thwart attacks in the West Bank and “protect residents in the area”. Israel’s government says the wider operation in Hebron, ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack, is a response to the killing of its soldiers. Palestinian officials have accused Netanyahu of using the operation to build support ahead of Israel’s 27 October general election, Reuters reported.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday that, according to Hebron municipal authorities, about 3,000 Palestinians remain displaced from two neighbourhoods of the city. OCHA said Israeli forces were still operating there and imposing tight movement restrictions across the governorate, disrupting access to work, schools and health care. UN human rights chief Volker Türk said this week that the displacement raised “grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force” and that threats to empty entire neighbourhoods “raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing”. Israel did not respond to Türk’s remarks in the reports cited.

Background

Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. Most countries and UN bodies consider Israeli settlements there illegal; Israel disputes this. See also: Hebron checkpoint shooting.