UN Rights Chief Warns of Ethnic Cleansing Amid Hebron Crackdown Displacing Thousands

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said more than 3,000 residents of Hebron have been evacuated since Friday following an Israeli security operation that demolished homes and commercial property. Aid partners are working with local authorities to meet the basic needs of those displaced.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described the operation as involving “unnecessary and disproportionate use of force” and warned that “collective punishment is a grave violation of international law.” He added that statements by senior Israeli officials suggest the measures are punitive and intended to instill fear, which he called unacceptable.

Türk called for the displaced to be allowed to return and for Israel to provide compensation and reparations for unlawful evictions and demolitions. He also said that threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.

OCHA noted that settler-related attacks across the West Bank have reached a record level, with more than 2,000 incidents recorded since the start of 2026, disrupting the olive harvest. In Gaza, humanitarian partners reported ongoing arson attacks on Palestinian families living near the “yellow line,” including the burning of tents that left at least nine households homeless.

An independent UN commission of inquiry presented a report to the General Assembly accusing Israeli forces of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories, including extermination, persecution, and other abuses. The commission’s chair, Srinivasan Muralidhar, said the intentional killing of civilians and destruction of homes in the West Bank form part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians.

Israel’s permanent mission in Geneva rejected the report, describing it as part of a misinformation campaign aimed at demonising the state.