NEW YORK — The United Nations human rights chief warned Monday that Israeli threats to “empty and erase entire neighborhoods” in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing. He condemned an operation that has forcibly displaced more than 2,000 Palestinians in just three days.
Volker Turk stated that since Friday, under what he described as an “aggressive operation,” Israeli forces have demolished homes and businesses while severely restricting residents’ freedom of movement. He added that these sweeping measures raise “grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force,” which must end immediately.
“Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law,” Turk said in a statement issued from Geneva.
Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said an Israeli lockdown has confined many residents to their homes or immediate neighborhoods. He also cited statements by Israeli leadership as evidence of intent.
“Declarations by senior Israeli government officials indicate that these measures are punitive in nature and designed to instill fear,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
He demanded that displaced residents be permitted to return home, and called on Israel to provide compensation and reparations for unlawful evictions, demolitions, and the resulting displacement.
The Hebron operation began on October 23 after Palestinian attackers killed two Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint near the city.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered a full West Bank lockdown, said Israeli forces would conduct house-to-house searches in the Hebron neighborhood believed to be the attackers’ origin, and that the operation would include demolitions and forced displacements.
Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote that the “Jenin refugee camp model is on its way to Hebron,” later confirming that approximately 2,000 people had been forcibly displaced.
Hebron municipality reported that roughly 35 hectares have been demolished or marked for demolition, primarily in the Ein Deir Baha and Farsh Al-Hawa neighborhoods.
Hebron is home to roughly 200,000 Palestinians, with another 600,000 living in the wider governorate, making it the most populous area in the West Bank.
