Israeli forces extend Hebron lockdown to sixth day amid renewed raids

Israeli army operations in the occupied West Bank intensified on Wednesday as the lockdown of Hebron entered its sixth day. Security forces carried out raids in multiple Hebron neighbourhoods and in towns across the governorate, tightening checkpoints at the city’s entrances, according to Anadolu news agency.

Around midnight, troops entered the Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron, searching several homes. In the city of Tulkarem, four Palestinians were detained, including a journalist, his two brothers and an officer of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, reported Wafa news agency.

Protesters in Beita, south of Nablus, faced tear-gas fire while demonstrating against the demolition of two homes belonging to families of Palestinian prisoners. A Palestinian man suffered a fractured hand after being beaten by Israeli forces during an incident in the village of Yasid, north of Nablus. In Burin village, soldiers raided homes and converted some into military barracks, Wafa added.

Schools in southern Nablus were instructed to shift to remote learning to safeguard students and staff.

"A near-total lockdown across large parts of Hebron has severely restricted residents’ freedom of movement and their ability to access critical services," said Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs for the occupied West Bank, in a post on X.

"These developments bring alarming echoes of the massive displacement witnessed in the northern occupied West Bank in early 2025, where more than 34,000 Palestine refugees from Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps remain forcibly displaced over a year later."

UNRWA expressed grave concern that the incursions have displaced nearly 5,000 Palestinians and warned that collective punishment would violate international law. The latest Israeli actions follow the killing of two Israeli soldiers by Palestinian gunmen at a checkpoint last week; the gunmen were subsequently killed by Israeli forces.