Hebron displacement passes 3,000 as UN rights chief warns of collective punishment

More than 3,000 Palestinians had been forced from their homes in Hebron by Monday, the eve of Israel's election, according to the UN's humanitarian office, OCHA, which said aid partners were helping local authorities support them.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the operation, launched after an attack on an army checkpoint on Friday, had destroyed homes and shops and confined many residents to their immediate neighbourhoods. He urged Israel to let all the displaced return and to compensate them for unlawful evictions and demolitions.

“Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law.”

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

WAFA, citing local figures, put the toll after five days of closure of the al-Jalda and Ein Deir Baha areas at 619 families affected, about 3,971 people displaced and 85 arrested. US-based rights groups quoted by the agency said more than 2,000 people had been driven out and hundreds of buildings marked for demolition.

Israel says the operation targets militants and weapons. The army has not published its own figures for displacement.