The Israeli army has forced around 1,500 Palestinians from 250 families to evacuate their homes in al-Khalil, south of the occupied West Bank, since Friday, and plans to displace another 2,500 in the coming hours.
In a statement, the al-Khalil municipality said the displaced families lived in the Deir Bahha and al-Jilda neighborhoods, which together are home to 500 families.
Israeli forces marked evacuated homes and distributed notices ordering the remaining families to leave without taking their vehicles, it added.
Al-Khalil Governor Khaled Dudin told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that the ongoing assault had displaced more than 200 families, calling for urgent international and legal intervention to halt Israeli violations.
He said the governorate, together with local institutions and tribal communities, was working to establish a crisis management committee to assist displaced people and those affected, after a state of emergency was declared on Friday.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates warned on Saturday against inflammatory Israeli statements threatening to expand forced displacement, and evacuate and destroy neighborhoods in al-Khalil.
The ministry described the threats as attempts to repeat the “Nakba” and carry out ethnic cleansing.
It instructed Palestinian embassies and diplomatic missions to take urgent international action to press governments to adopt firm positions against Israeli practices.
Israeli forces have continued their assault on al-Khalil since Friday, demolishing buildings and commercial shops in the Farsh al-Hawa area, raiding and searching homes, abducting at least 13 Palestinians, and closing entrances to the city, villages, towns and refugee camps.
Meanwhile, families were forced to spend the night outdoors after being evacuated from their homes.
Israeli forces have reportedly begun taking control of buildings in the city to strengthen their control over roads leading to the illegal settlements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet says it has approved 104 new settlements since taking office in late 2022.
During the same period, 160 agricultural settlement outposts have been established across the occupied West Bank.
Israel has accelerated settlement construction, legalized previously unauthorized outposts, and expanded settler control over Palestinian agricultural land.
Illegal settlers have simultaneously intensified attacks on Palestinian communities, including assaults, arson, destruction of crops and livestock, and forced displacement.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called for the evacuation of settlers from the occupied West Bank, including East al-Quds.
International bodies have also warned that continued settlement expansion fragments Palestinian territory, displaces residents, and threatens the viability of an independent Palestinian state.
OIC chief condemns Israeli assault on al-Khalil
Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has condemned the large-scale Israeli assault on al-Khalil, describing it as a dangerous escalation within a policy of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement carried out by Israeli forces and illegal settlers.
He warned of the dangers posed by such expansionist schemes, which aim to alter the demographic and geographic character of al-Khalil and its surroundings.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed stressed that systematic demolitions and mass displacement constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.
He also condemned ongoing Israeli violations against religious sites in the city, including the continued closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque and the prevention of worshippers from reaching it, describing these measures as a blatant attack on freedom of worship and the sanctity of holy places.
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