Hebron offensive enters eighth day with new demolitions

The military siege of Hebron in the occupied West Bank entered its eighth day on Friday as Israeli forces carried out new demolitions.

Troops blew up the homes of Ahmad and Hammouda al-Jaabeh, two brothers who killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint on October 23.

Army engineers spent at least nine hours inside the buildings rigging explosives before detonating them. The area was sealed off from the morning of the operation until the structures were reduced to rubble.

After the blasts, troops backed by drones detained at least 12 Palestinians who attempted to approach the site. Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed al-Atrash reported that some detainees were still being held at the time of his broadcast.

The Hebron municipality stated on Tuesday that 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families had been displaced by the ongoing offensive. Al-Atrash noted that Israeli forces had arrested at least 120 people and interrogated hundreds more since the operation began.

At least 13 businesses near the checkpoint were demolished. The Ein Deir Bahha neighborhood has been fully emptied, with some homes converted into military barracks and command centers. Hundreds of families in the adjacent al-Jalda area remain trapped in their homes.

Dozens of displaced residents, including women, children, and older people, protested near the closed al-Jalda roundabout on Friday. They demanded an end to the siege and the right to return to their homes.

Raed Nairat, an academic on Israeli affairs, described the operation as collective punishment aimed at breaking Palestinian will. He stated that the measures were driven by political rather than security aims, effectively turning the West Bank into a military zone.

Hamas characterized the forced displacement and demolitions as a systematic campaign targeting the Palestinian presence and called for urgent international action. Elsewhere in the West Bank, forces detained four Palestinians in raids south of Tulkarem and attacked olive harvesters in villages near Bethlehem and Nablus.