UN Warns of Ethnic Cleansing Israel Displaces Thousands in West Bank
Hebron’s municipality says 3,189 people have been forced from their homes as UN officials condemn displacement, demolitions and restrictions imposed during Israel’s military operation in the occupied West Bank.
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Israel’s military operation in Hebron has raised serious concerns of ethnic cleansing, the United Nations warned Monday, as the city’s municipality reported that 3,189 Palestinians had been forced from their homes.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk condemned the displacement, destruction of residential and commercial buildings, and movement restrictions imposed during the operation in the occupied West Bank’s largest city.
“Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. Threats to empty and erase entire neighborhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.”
Displacement and Demolitions
Turk said statements from senior Israeli officials showed the measures were intended to punish residents and spread fear.
The lockdown, he added, had restricted many Palestinians to their homes and surrounding streets.
He called for an end to unnecessary and disproportionate force and demanded that displaced residents be permitted to return.
Israel must provide compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions, demolitions and the resulting displacement, he said.
Israeli forces moved into Ein Deir Baha, the neighborhood where two Palestinian gunmen had lived, and instructed residents to leave their homes.
The operation followed a checkpoint attack near Hebron on Friday in which the gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers.
Both attackers died in the subsequent exchange of fire. The attack came ahead of Tuesday’s Israeli elections.
Guterres Warns of Wider Coercion
Speaking in Cairo earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm over developments across the West Bank, citing persistent evictions and mounting settler violence.
“We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the specter of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger. This must end.”
Guterres said lasting peace in the Middle East depended on fulfilling the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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