UN warns of ethnic cleansing risk in Hebron crackdown

Hebron — Israel's military operation in Hebron has forced more than 3,000 Palestinians from their homes since Friday, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said, as the UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned on Monday that the crackdown raises serious concerns of ethnic cleansing. The displacement comes on the eve of Israeli elections.

The operation began after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli military checkpoint near the city on Friday, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, according to UN News. Both gunmen were killed. Israeli forces have since demolished homes and commercial property, confined many residents to their homes and immediate neighbourhoods, and deprived people of the ability to move freely, Mr Türk said.

"The sweeping steps taken raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force – which must end," Mr Türk said in a statement. "Declarations by senior Israeli Government officials indicate that the measures implemented are punitive in nature and designed to instil fear. This is unacceptable."

"Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law," he warned, adding that "threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing." He called for all those displaced to be allowed to return home and for Israel to ensure compensation and reparation for unlawful evictions and demolitions. A French public broadcaster reported that no immediate Israeli response to his statement was available.

The Hebron displacement, which Wide World News has followed since the first raids after the checkpoint attack, lands amid a record year of settler violence. More than 2,000 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage have been recorded since the start of 2026 — more than in any previous year on record, according to OCHA — with further attacks over the weekend disrupting the olive harvest.

In a separate report presented to the UN General Assembly on Monday, independent UN investigators said Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians and continues to commit genocide in Gaza — findings Israel has previously rejected. The commission's members are independent experts, not UN staff.

For the more than 3,000 people now sheltering with relatives or in temporary accommodation in Hebron, the immediate question is simpler: whether they will be allowed back to their homes, and whether what was demolished will be rebuilt.