Hebron siege enters second week: 4,969 displaced as 10 entrances are sealed off

The Israeli military siege on Hebron, in the south of the occupied West Bank, has entered its second week. An investigation by Al Jazeera's Data Journalism Unit shows almost 5,000 people have been displaced as a result of the siege.

As of Friday, the number of people forcibly removed from their homes stands at 4,969. The displaced population includes 441 elderly people, 336 infants less than two years old and 312 patients with chronic diseases. More than 200 pregnant or nursing women are also included, as well as 44 people with disabilities.

Al Jazeera, which has analysed municipal data and statistics from human rights groups, reveals that 780 families are currently displaced, representing about 2 percent of the city's 250,000 residents.

Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jabari told Al Jazeera that thousands of citizens were forced out of their homes, and the world watched children crying after midnight. In a statement to Anadolu agency, he added that Hebron is facing a severe, massive siege and collective punishment.

On October 24, the mayor told Al Jazeera that about 2,200 people were displaced, meaning the number had more than doubled in just two days.

The military siege began on Friday, October 23, after two Palestinians shot two Israeli soldiers dead in Hebron and injured three others, before the army killed the two attackers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on social media that he had ordered security forces to immediately close Hebron and prepare for a full lockdown across the West Bank. He proclaimed that they would act to destroy this place and change it completely.

The Israeli army said the operation aims to thwart terrorism by searching, arresting suspects and confiscating weapons. Defence Minister Israel Katz said Palestinians will not be allowed to return to their homes until Hamas's infrastructure is dismantled. However, the Israeli news site Ynet quoted the army as saying the search for weapons has had limited accomplishments and keeping residents away from their homes for a prolonged period faces legal difficulties.

The municipality noted that the targeted eviction zone spans 0.35 square kilometres — the size of 49 football pitches — and houses more than 500 families comprising at least 2,500 individuals. Among the families whose locations have been tracked, 283 are residing with relatives and 266 are in locations classified by the municipality as unsafe.

According to Al Jazeera's findings, most displaced families have sought refuge with relatives or host families in nearby neighbourhoods such as Issa, and no one has resorted to official shelter centres, while only 23 families managed to secure rented homes.

Israeli forces have surrounded the city by closing off 10 entrances located between 2.4km and 7.6km from the centre. These include Halhul, Nabi Yunus and Ras al-Jora to the north; Beit Einun to the northeast; and Bir al-Mahjar to the northwest. The eastern and southern flanks are blockaded by closures at Jabal Juhar, al-Fahs, Qalqas, al-Harayiq and Dura.

In the Farsh al-Hawa area at the city's western entrance, Israeli forces demolished a three-apartment residential building during the first two days of the operation — October 23 and 24 — targeted a ceramics company alongside car parts shops, and bulldozed approximately 7,000 square metres of land. Families were also evicted from the al-Jalda and Ein Deir Bahha neighbourhoods about midnight on Friday, October 23, when forces ordered residents via loudspeakers to leave.

Over the first six days of the operation, the Israeli military arrested approximately 110 Palestinians across the governorate, according to the Palestinian Prisoner's Society. The detainees include seven children, people with special needs and dozens of former prisoners; three women were arrested, two released and the third kept under interrogation at the al-Mascobiyeh detention centre. The military has searched more than 500 sites in the city.

The Hebron Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates daily commercial losses at 12 million shekels, about $3.8m, as a result of this siege. Factory production capacity has plummeted by 40 to 60 percent, according to Adnan al-Natsheh, vice president of the Chamber. The governorate houses about 3,500 industrial facilities and 70 percent of the gold workshops for the Palestinian market. The movement of commercial trucks has completely halted, and the demolitions in Farsh al-Hawa alone have caused damage of more than two million shekels, about $640,000.