West Bank: Crackdown in Hebron causes thousands to flee, Türk warns of ethnic cleansing

UN aid coordination office, Ochasaid aid partners are supporting the local government in Hebron to meet the needs of more than 3,000 people evacuated by Israeli forces since Friday.

Türk said the operation had destroyed homes and commercial properties, and prevented residents from moving freely.

The operation began after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint near Hebron on Friday, killing two soldiers and wounding three others. Both gunmen were killed.

“These major steps taken raise grave concerns about the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force – which must end,” Türk said in a statement.

Punishment ‘designed to instill fear’

Israel’s lockdown confined many people to their homes and neighbourhoods, the UN human rights chief said.

“The declaration of a senior Israeli Government official indicates that the measures implemented are punitive and designed to instill fear. This is unacceptable,” he said.

He called for all refugees to be allowed to return to their homes, and for Israel to ensure compensation and reparations for the unlawful evictions and demolitions, as well as the resulting displacement.

“Collective punishment is a serious violation of international lawhe warned. “Threats to vacate and wipe out entire neighborhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.”

Note the year of the settler attack

OCHA said the UN and its partners were responding to new displacement in Gaza and the West Bank.

Settler attacks continued in the West Bank over the weekend, disrupting the olive harvest.

More than 2,000 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage have been recorded since the start of 2026 – more than in any previous year, according to OCHA.

Arson attack in Gaza

In Gaza, humanitarian partners warned that Palestinian families in the so-called “yellow line” continued to face reports of arson attacks.

“In the last few days, new [yellow] blocks have been observed in Ash Shuja’iyyeh and parts of Deir al Balah,” OCHA said in its report. latest situation report.

“Since Friday, UN locations in Deir al Balah have been attacked. There have also been three separate shooting incidents in the vicinity of three UN schools and near a UN convoy.”

A UN team recently visited the Ash Shuja’iyyeh area of ​​Gaza City, where tents were burned on Sunday night, identifying at least nine households who had lost shelter. This follows another fire that broke out at the site last week, which displaced around 200 families.

Israel ‘committed war crimes’

Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians and continues to carry out genocide in Gaza, the UN’s independent human rights investigator said in a statement. new report on Monday.

Crimes against humanity include extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, according to the report. Independent International Commission of Inquiry in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. He latest report has been submitted to the UN General Assembly.

This commission was formed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021. The body is composed of independent experts who are not UN staff and are not paid for their work.

“The deliberate killing and maiming of Palestinian civilians and the destruction of homes in the West Bank combined with Israel’s persistent refusal to take responsibility are part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose unlivable living conditions.,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chairman of the commission.

He said the expansion of Israel’s territorial control in Gaza “continues to result in the killing and suffering of Palestinian civilians who approach or cross the “yellow line” – the line Israeli forces drew under a ceasefire agreement in October 2025.

Investigators also found that in Gaza, “Israeli authorities and forces continue to carry out acts of genocide even after the so-called ceasefire agreement, with the aim of destroying the Palestinian people, in whole or in part..”

Israel rejected the findings. Its permanent mission in Geneva said the report was “yet another manifestation of the misinformation campaign to demonize the State of Israel and portray its existence as criminal”.