1,200 Palestinians displaced in West Bank as Israel begins military operation

The Israeli military forced around 1,200 Palestinians from 250 families to leave their homes in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said on Saturday, a day after a Palestinian attack killed two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday had said the military would launch a large-scale operation after the soldiers were killed when when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a military checkpoint near the city. The Israeli military said the gunmen were shot dead.

They also said the operation in the Al-Jaladah and Ein Deir Baha neighbourhoods near the military checkpoint at the entrance of Hebron was to search for militants and weapons. In a statement, it also said the military would carry out demolitions.

The Palestinian Authority criticised the operation as a "collective punishment".

Yousef Zouhair Al-Jabari, the head of Hebron's municipality, said around 1,300 faced losing their homes in addition to the 1,200 already displaced.

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He also said the Israeli operations were motivated by parliamentary elections on Tuesday when Netanyahu's right-wing coalition may lose his majority, opinion polls show.

"Netanyahu and the radical ministers in his government are trying to win as many votes as possible from the settlers," Al-Jabari said.

The non-governmental organisation the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said Israeli forces had arrested around 70 Palestinians on Friday and Saturday. Israeli officials have not commented on any arrests.

Netanyahu's government has presided over expansion of settlements

Al-Jabari said the military had demolished shops, factories, homes, and roads in Hebron and that the response was disproportionate and unjustified.

Residents in Hebron told Reuters that the military expelled many people with no connection to the Palestinian attackers.

"We are calling on officials to stand by us because we are not involved in any of this. There are children. We are isolated; we don’t do anything. This is all arbitrary,” said Majdi Nasser, one of those driven from his home.

Residents told Reuters they saw Israeli soldiers marking homes with a black X after their Palestinian occupants had been forced to leave. It was not immediately clear what the X mark meant.

Netanyahu's government has presided over a rapid expansion of settlements, deemed illegal by UN bodies and most countries, though Israel disputes this.

Across the West Bank, Israel has blocked the entrances to most Palestinian cities and towns, severely curtailing Palestinians' freedom of movement.

Yousef Mur, a resident of the Palestinian town of Yatta, said the closures meant he was unable to reach Jerusalem with his daughter for her cancer treatment.

"The situation is bad, and we are suffering. When we tried to cross, they fired stun grenades towards us, and my girl got scared on the way. They fired stun grenades towards people. The situation is very difficult," Mur said.